Clause 214
by SilvorMoon
Summary: Juudai has always wanted to attend hero school. The bad news is, he'd been admitted under Clause 214 - an exception made for people with no superpowers. Even without them, he's going to have to negotiate everything from games of capture the flag to mysterious specters and super-criminals. He always thought being a hero would be fun, but he didn't think it would be like this!
1. How to Fail a Blood Test

Juudai had never been so excited to take a test. Normally he didn't like tests, or anything that involved having to sit still and be quiet for any length of time that didn't also involve eating or sleeping. Today, though, he was racing as fast as his feet would carry him, cutting across lawns, dodging bicyclists and dog walkers, grinning from ear to ear as he ran. All he had to do was make it to the bus station in time, and everything would fall neatly into place.

He vaulted over an ornamental shrub, cut across a parking lot, and dodged a knot of shoppers to reach the sidewalk again. As he waited for a crosswalk light to change, he glanced at his watch. He was making good time - there were still fifteen minutes before the last bus to the testing center left. If he poured on the speed, he'd get there in plenty of time. If he took a shortcut across the park and then up past the mall...

He darted around a corner and slammed into something with enough force to knock him back on his rear. Whatever he ran into went "ow". Juudai winced, rubbing his bruised posterior.

"Sorry," he said, as he hauled himself to his feet. "Didn't see you there."

"It's all right," said a soft voice.

Juudai looked to see who it was he'd slammed into. It appeared to be a boy of about his age, or maybe only a little younger. He was thin and rather pale, as if he hadn't been getting enough sun lately, and his eyes were a vivid blue-green. His hair was nearly the same shade, and there was something like a jewel at the center of his forehead. Juudai beamed. What luck!

"Hey," he said, "are you going to the tests? Do you want to come with me?"

The boy considered a moment, the nodded shyly.

"Awesome!" said Juudai. "Come on - we'd better hurry!"

He grabbed his new friend's wrist, and together, they ran.

There were a lot of ways to tell whether or not someone had been born a super, and oddly colored hair was one of them. Not that every super had it, and not that having it was a surefire indicator that you had enough power to do anything interesting with it. That was why they had to develop the blood tests. That, and the fact that not everyone showed their powers right away. There were generally three times in a person's life when they might develop superpowers. Some people had them from birth, and turned up in the world already equipped to drive their parents to distraction by sporadically turning invisible or floating up to the ceiling. The next likely time was during puberty, making what was normally an awkward time that much more difficult. Juudai had been vastly disappointed to discover that this had not happened to him yet. Still, there was one more window of opportunity, a span of time right around the age of twenty-five, when most people reached full physical maturity. That was still ten years off for him - far too long, in his opinion, to wait to find out if something interesting was about to happen.

That was why he was now hurtling down the street towards the bus station. He had finally reached the age when young supers were generally old enough to start really harnessing their powers and begin training to be a genuine superhero. You could always enter a training facility later, of course, if your powers manifested after you'd reached your fifteenth birthday, but if you didn't want to wait that long, you could take a blood test. Every super had a level of chemicals in their blood that normals didn't have - commonly known as "S-levels". Even if you didn't have any obvious talents yet, your S-levels would show what you could expect. Anyone with S-levels over a certain number could be admitted to Heroic Academy. Juudai had been dreaming of attending all his life, and if all he had to do to get in was to endure getting his finger pricked, well, the choice was obvious.

Juudai and his new friend reached the bus just as it was starting to pull away.

"Hey, let us in! We're coming too!" he shouted. He made a flying leap to grab at the door handles, and the bus squealed to a stop with an almost offended air. Juudai backed off just long enough to let the driver open the doors, and then he shoved his companion aboard before climbing on himself.

Luck was with them. The bus was not terribly crowded, and the two of them were able to find an empty seat near the back.

"You want the window seat?" Juudai asked, feeling magnanimous.

His new friend shook his head. "No. I... get carsick."

"Bummer," said Juudai sympathetically. He plunked into the cracked faux-leather seat and made himself comfortable. "Hey, I didn't get your name. I'm Juudai."

The boy gave him a shy smile. "I'm Yubel."

"Yubel, huh? Cool name," said Juudai. He peered out the window as the scenery began rolling away behind them. "Well, I guess there's nothing to do now but sit back and enjoy the ride. Man, I can't believe I'm finally going to the Academy!"

"You're a super?" Yubel asked. "What's your power?"

"I don't know yet," said Juudai. "That's why I'm getting tested. But I _have_ to be one. I've never wanted to be anything else, you know? It's always been my dream..."

"I'm sure you'll make it," said Yubel.

Juudai grinned. "Thanks. I know you're bound to get in. I mean, it kinda shows on you." He began rummaging in his backpack and came up with a candy bar he'd brought to help him keep up his strength on the two-hour bus ride. He peeled back the wrapper and prepared to take a bite when he noticed the look in Yubel's eyes. He was following the candy's path with a particularly fixed stare that could only mean one thing.

"You hungry?" Juudai asked.

Yubel nodded, looking guilty. "I didn't... I didn't eat breakfast this morning."

"Nerves, huh?" said Juudai sympathetically. He wrestled with his conscience for a moment before saying, "Here. I didn't really want it that much."

"Thanks!" said Yubel. He took the candy and began wolfing it down as though he hadn't eaten in a week.

Juudai went back to looking out the window. "Man, this is great - I'm not even at the school and already I'm making friends. What are the odds of meeting you on the bus like this, huh?"

Yubel looked up, briefly distracted from his snack. "Are we friends?"

"Sure!" said Juudai. "I mean, why not? It'll be good to have someone to hang with when we get to the island. Man, this is going to be all kinds of fun! We can go swimming together and have sleepovers and pillow fights..."

He went on cheerfully embroidering his plans. If Yubel thought there was anything odd about making detailed plans for the future when he didn't even know if he was going to be accepted or not, he didn't say a word about it. If anything, Yubel appeared utterly fascinated, so Juudai, pleased to have an audience, went on spinning tales of all the fun things they would do when they were at the Academy together.

Eventually, the bus pulled to a halt outside a large building that was normally a stadium. Today, however, was a special occasion, and while what was going on inside was probably a spectacle, it wasn't the sort of thing you could buy tickets to. Instead, registrars stood at all the ticket booths, helping entrants get signed in. Juudai pressed his nose against the window.

"Wow, look at all those people!" he said.

"That is a lot of people," Yubel agreed, sounding impressed.

"Everybody out who's getting out!" the bus driver shouted. "Move it along, haven't got all day!"

"I'm going, I'm going!" Juudai called back. He grabbed his backpack and hustled towards the door of the bus.

The space in front of the stadium was pure chaos. Juudai stood there on the front walk for a moment, taking it all in. He had never seen so many supers in one place before. The area in front of the doors was vivid with brightly colored hair and skin, and the occasional set of wings or glowing aura. Some of them already had costumes on.

"Whoa," said Juudai. "Would you look at all this?"

He turned around to see what Yubel's reaction was, but his friend was already gone.

"Yubel?" he called. "Where'd you go?"

He looked around, but wherever Yubel had gone, it was nowhere Juudai could find him. He waded through the crowd, dodging wings and having his eyes dazzled as the sun flashed off sparkling costumes. There were so many people everywhere, and the crowd was constantly in motion - not just side to side but up and down as well, and occasionally a teleporter or portal-user materialized out of thin air. After a while, Juudai was forced to admit that wherever his new friend had gone, he probably wasn't going to find him.

 _He must have gone to sign in already,_ he decided at last. He shrugged. Sooner or later, they were bound to catch up to each other again. If they didn't run into each other again in the testing area, then surely they'd see each other at school.

"But before I can do that, I have to _get_ to the school," he told himself, and scrambled to get into a line.

The registrar eyed him dubiously when he presented himself at the window, but when he handed over his application form, she gave him a number and told him to get in line to be tested. He followed the rest of the motley crowd into the building. A young man with the school logo on his jacket was directing traffic, sending some students one way and some in another.

"Which way do I go?" Juudai asked him.

"If you know your powers already, head to the right," the young man told him. "If you're here for the blood test, take the left-hand corridor and go up the stairs to the stadium. You can watch the others until your number is called."

"Got it! Thanks!" Juudai replied, and went bounding off in search of stairs.

The show was already going on by the time he got there, and looked as though it had been for some time. At the moment, a pretty blonde girl was at the center of the arena, displaying her ability to deflect a variety of projectiles fired at her from several angles, all without touching them or even moving very much. Juudai thought she looked slightly bored, and felt sorry for her.

"Can I sit here?" asked a voice at his elbow.

"Sure!" said Juudai, looking up to see who it was. A small, bespectacled boy with pale blue-green hair was looking at him with worried gray eyes. "I'm Juudai! Who are you?"

The boy mumbled something. Juudai blinked.

"What was that?" he asked.

"Shou," said the boy. "My name's Shou."

"Nice to meet you," said Juudai. He patted the chair next to him. "Come on, sit down. I don't bite."

Shou sat down. "I guess you're getting the blood test too, huh? Man, I hate needles..."

"It won't be so bad," said Juudai. "Anyway, a guy can just look at you and tell you're a super. I mean, with that hair, what else would you be?"

"I know," said Shou, sounding miserable, "but I still don't know what my power is. If my S-levels aren't high enough, I won't get admitted at all."

"So all you've gotta do is get tested, then," said Juudai. He patted Shou's shoulder. "Cheer up! It'll just take a second, and then you'll be in. Nothing to it."

"Are you sure?" asked Shou, looking hopeful.

"Sure I'm sure," said Juudai. "If I can get in, you can get in, and I'm definitely going to get in."

"Well, if you really think so," said Shou. "I don't know. Maybe you're right. At least it'll all be over soon."

Together they sat back and watched the girl finish showing off her abilities. A new boy stepped into the ring and began demonstrating his ability to solve increasingly complex math problems in his head. Juudai was bored within seconds. He closed his eyes and started dozing. If Shou hadn't been sitting next to him, twitching every time a new number was called over the loudspeaker, he might have fallen asleep entirely.

"Number two hundred and eleven!" the voice overhead boomed.

Juudai jumped. "Whoa, that's me!"

"Good luck!" said Shou.

"Same to you!" Juudai called back. "I'll see you at the Academy!"

He bounded down the stairs and back into the hallway, where a young woman caught him by the arm and escorted him into a side room.

"Now, this isn't going to hurt but a little," she said soothingly as she pushed up his sleeve and began swabbing him with rubbing alcohol. "You aren't afraid of needles are you?"

"Not a bit," Juudai promised her. He watched with interest as she pressed the syringe to his arm and began drawing out a small amount of blood. Once she was done, she slapped a band-aid onto the pinprick.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" she chirped. "You just wait right there, and we'll have your test results in no time."

She pranced off, high heels clicking on the floor. Juudai sat in his chair, swinging his heels back and forth, trying not to jump up and start pacing the floor in anticipation.

The nurse came back a few minutes later, looking apologetic. Juudai felt his heart sink. He hadn't passed...

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm afraid our testing machine is having a _leetle_ tummy-ache today. Do you mind if we try this again?"

Juudai breathed a sigh of relief. "Sure. Go for it."

She rolled up his other sleeve and pricked him again. Then she patted on another bandage and trotted off again. Juudai got up and started pacing. He wondered if getting blood tests usually took this long. What if the machine was broken? What if it gave him a false negative and sent him home? He had never been a nail biter before, but now seemed like it might be time to start.

When the nurse came back, she was wearing a puzzled and slightly worried expression.

"I'm really, really sorry about this," she said. "I can't think what might be going wrong. Would you mind...?"

"But I'm out of arms!" Juudai protested.

She went back to the arm she'd drawn from the first time and jabbed him again, watching him the entire time as though she suspected he was doing something to sabotage the process.

"Third time's the charm," she muttered, and disappeared back through her door again.

Juudai sighed, looking woefully first at the door, then at his much-bandaged arms.

"They didn't even give me any cookies," he muttered.

* * *

"Chancellor, may I have a word with you?"

Chancellor Samejima looked up from his paperwork. There was always so much paperwork at the beginning of a new school year. Sometimes he felt that his entire year was spent mainly in trying to finish the paperwork he began at the beginning of the first semester, and that as soon as he was done with that, the next year was beginning. He was not sure if he was glad of the interruption or not.

"Of course, Professor. What can I do for you?" he said, managing not to sound too unenthused.

"There is a situation at the testing facility," said Professor Chronos. He rubbed his long, thin hands together, looking servile and more than slightly nervous. "We thought we should ask you to mediate."

"What sort of situation?" Samejima asked.

"With one of the children," Chronos elaborated. "His test results are... strange."

"Strange how?" Samejima asked. "For heaven's sakes, stop beating around the bush."

"The staff says they can't get a reading on him," said Chronos. "It's not that he's not registering any S-levels. It's more... do you know what the highest S-levels ever recorded were, Chancellor?"

"Eight hundred and forty-two," said Samejima promptly.

"Eight hundred and forty-two," Chronos agreed. "But every time we try to read this boy, the machines register a reading of nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine. Every single time."

"Perhaps it's a mechanical malfunction?" Samejima suggested.

Chronos shook his head. "They've taken three separate blood samples, and tried them on a total of eight different machines. They all gave the same reading. But it's impossible." Chronos's expression showed signs of displeasure. "No one has ever come close to having such a reading. It has to be some kind of fluke. The boy is as normal as they come - not even odd-colored eyes. There is no possible way he could be that powerful without even giving a hint of it."

Samejima frowned. In general, higher S-levels generally also meant greater likelihood of starting life already showing signs of powers, and of having more than one ability. It wasn't a hard and fast rule, though - the world record holder had waited until he was sixteen to suddenly develop his seemingly unlimited skill set. Still, someone over a hundred times more powerful not even showing a hint of ability seemed... unlikely.

"Perhaps it's something very minor," he said. "An innate ability to set machines on the fritz?"

"We considered that," said Chronos, "but we had the nurse ask him if he had a history of that sort of thing, and his response was - and I quote..." He fished a paper out of his pocket and began reading. "'I ran my phone through the laundry once. Does that count?'" He folded the paper and put it away. "If he has an effect on mechanical equipment, it's a very narrow and specific effect."

"I see," said Samejima. He considered. "Well, the rule is, anyone with an S-level reading over one hundred is admitted, and his numbers certainly are over one hundred."

Chronos looked shocked. "But it isn't possible! There is no way anyone could have a reading that high. It _must_ be some sort of mistake. We just don't know what kind yet."

"Hmm," said Samejima. He drummed his fingers on his desk. "Very well. We'll write him in under Clause 214."

"Are you sure that's wise?" asked Chronos, looking scandalized.

"It seems like the best compromise to me," said Samejima. "If he has no notable powers and this is all just a fluke, then he'll either learn to adapt or he'll be removed from the school. If he does have powers, though, and they really are as extreme as those readouts lead us to believe, we need him here where we can keep an eye on him."

"Yes, but..." Chronos stammered.

"That's enough," said Samejima. "Unless you have a better idea?"

Chronos opened his mouth to say something. Then he apparently thought the better of it and closed it again. "No, sir. That... that will be all."

"Good," said Samejima. "Now, if there's nothing else, I really do have a lot of work to do, so if you'll excuse me..."

Chronos took the hint. He shuffled off, looking sullen. Samejima went back to his paperwork, but his mind wandered. How did a boy end up with a reading like that, anyway? If he was a normal, his readout would have been a flat zero. Even if he was powered, though, no one had ever gotten a reading even a tenth that high. The prevailing theory was that a level of one thousand was the theoretical limit. By all accounts, what this boy was doing shouldn't be possible. So what _was_ going on here?

A long time ago, people born with powers had been considered blessed by the gods, or possibly even revered _as_ gods. These days, scientists had spent millions of dollars and millions of man-hours testing, studying, and arguing over whether or not the powers were a result of genetics, environmental pressures, or something else altogether. The only firm conclusion that anyone had been able to reach was a general consensus that the S-levels were measurements of a chemical produced by the bodies of those with superpowers, but that they were a symptom, not a cause. People with superpowers produced S-chemicals, but injecting S-chemicals into someone didn't give them superpowers. All evidence available, in fact, suggested that doing so would only make an ordinary person very sick, or even kill them, and there were laws against even attempting to do so.

It was clear, however, that people with higher S-levels had more and greater powers than those with lower levels. A person with an S-level lower than a hundred was hardly different from a normal. Someone with over three hundred was a force to be reckoned with. A person with over five hundred was enough to remind you why supers had once been worshiped as gods. And this boy's readings were apparently so far off the charts as to make those numbers look trifling by comparison. If someone could understand why, it might shed some light on the entire mystery of how people ended up with powers in the first place.

If he had been forced to be completely truthful, he would have admitted that he'd invoked Clause 214 partly just so he'd have an excuse to see the boy himself in action, and to try to get some answers.

* * *

Yubel was still running.

He could feel a blister being rubbed onto one heel, where his left sandal didn't fit quite right. It was making him limp, and he didn't want that. He wanted to run, and run, and keep running, as far and fast as he could.

Meeting Juudai had been a blessing in more ways than one. He never would have considered taking the bus anywhere. He had no money, and would never have dared risk being taken back in the direction he had come from. The chance to ride for a solid two hours, all the way into the next city - the chance to catch his breath and rest his aching feet - had been the answer to a prayer. To actually be given something to eat was almost too good to be true. To spend even a short amount of time in the company of a true friend...

Yubel's head spun, and he stumbled on the uneven sidewalk. A few passers-by glared at him, as though suspecting he was lurching about like that on purpose. He knew how he must look: sweating, disheveled, blood running down his knees and palms, eyes wild. He'd be afraid of himself, too. There was no time to stop, no time to slow down and explain. The only thing he could do was run, run, run and keep moving.

He stumbled again, and this time, he didn't have the strength to right himself. He had been running so long, and his head spun from hunger and thirst. When he tried to push himself back to his feet, his muscles trembled so much that he gave it up. Instead, he crawled across the rough pavement to hide in an alley, leaving little streaks and blotches of blood on the sidewalk. He tucked himself between a pair of trash cans. The smell was enough to make his eyes water, but it was cool and out of sight there. Maybe he could rest, just for a minute, maybe even take a nap...

He was awakened by the feeling of someone pushing a shoe none too gently into his ribs. He groaned.

"Enough of that! On your feet!" a voice snapped.

Yubel didn't move. He hurt. He was still so tired...

Hands, not violent but not particularly gentle, hauled him to his feet. His knees didn't want to hold him, so the hands continued to hold him up. He let himself slump against the chest of the man who was supporting him, and the man gave a grunt of annoyance.

"Look at this," he muttered. "He can't even stay on his own two feet. I thought this one was supposed to be something special."

"Well, he's not dead yet," said a second voice. "That's gotta count for something."

Yubel managed to raise his bleary eyes to see a familiar guard standing in front of him, looking down at him with an expression of smug amusement. He was looking more respectable than usual in a rather rumpled business suit instead of his uniform, and with his hair neatly combed, but the mole on his jaw was unmistakable.

"Whatever," said the other man. Yubel knew him as the bad-tempered one who always smelled of beer and breath mints. "Better haul him home before someone starts calling to find out where we are. Hey, you, put that garbage down and let's go."

Rough hands tried to snatch the candy wrapper away from him. Yubel clutched at it with sudden panic. It was the only gift he could ever remember anyone giving him. It was the only thing he truly owned - even the clothes he wore had been issued to him by G.R.A.S.P.

"No!" he said. "You can't have it!" He clutched the wrapper close to his chest, and the man made a clumsy effort to pry it away with one hand while holding on to him with the other.

"Lay off," said the other man. "It's just a stupid piece of trash, like him. He might as well keep it."

Mint Man said, "But the boss said..."

"It's just a piece of paper," Mole Man sighed. "What is he going to do, origami us to death? Build an army of killer paper dolls? Give somebody a paper cut? Let's just get him back to his cell and let the inspectors sort it out."

"Fine," said Mint Man. "Come on, kid, let's get you out of here."

He began hauling Yubel - literally dragging him in places, as Yubel missed his footing and would have fallen if someone hadn't been holding him up. A short distance away, an anonymous gray car was parked on a side street. They shoved Yubel into the backseat, and then Mint Man got in next to him to make sure he couldn't try to escape, while Mole Man got into the front. The car began to roll back up the streets. Yubel stared at them, trying to memorize it all: the sky, the buildings, the people. He had no idea when he'd see them again.

 _I will get out again someday,_ he thought, _and when I do, Juudai, I promise I'll find you again..._


	2. Introduce Yourself to the Class

The dock was immensely crowded. Juudai took it all in with eyes wide - he felt he couldn't look in enough directions at once. It looked like all the usual first day of school chaos multiplied a few hundred times. People were running back and forth piling up luggage while other people hauled it all onto the ship. Parents were bidding tearful goodbyes to their children or admonishing them sternly to be good and stay out of trouble, while the children tried to squirm away from their parents. Old friends greeted each other, old rivals engaged in the first verbal sparring matches of the year, and couples flirted with each other. What made it all the more exciting was that most of these people were glowing, flying, tossing around energy beams, or spontaneously turning into animals. Quite a few of them were already wearing their own custom-made costumes.

"Wow!" he said. "Man, I wish I had a costume..."

He turned his head to follow a particularly striking outfit, and as he did so, someone walked into him. Juudai toppled over backwards, and heard whoever he'd walked into give a yelp and then hit the ground with a thud.

"Whoa, sorry!" said Juudai. "Guess I wasn't looking where I was going."

"That's all right," said a vaguely familiar voice.

Juudai managed to sit up enough to see who he was talking to and beamed. "Hey, I remember you - from the tryouts!"

The other boy looked pleased. "That's right - Marufuji Shou. And you're, um..."

"Juudai," Juudai supplied. "So, you made it in, huh? See, I knew you could do it!"

"I guess you were right," said Shou. He stood up and dusted himself off. "So, um, I think they're going to start boarding the ship soon, so, um, maybe if you wanted to..."

"Hang with you on the ride over?" Juudai finished. "Sure!"

"Really?" asked Shou. He looked as though he'd expected persuading him to be a lot more difficult.

"Sure," said Juudai. "I mean, it's not like I know anybody else here. Oh, um... except for this one guy. Have you seen him? Name's Yubel - blue hair, jewel in his forehead, kind of scrawny-looking..."

Shou shook his head. "Sorry. I haven't seen him."

"That's all right," said Juudai. "He'll turn up." He sobered a bit. "Unless he didn't make the entrance requirements, I guess."

Not everyone who had powers could pass the entry exams. Some people had gifts that were so weak or so useless that there was little need to train them. Someone who could turn himself neon green or transform into an aardvark was probably going to be a lot of fun at parties, but wouldn't be of much use on the battlefield. They were generally content to live peaceful unassuming lives, except perhaps at costume parties and on Halloween. It was just possible that whatever talent Yubel had was not enough to get him through the gates.

"Well, maybe he'll turn up later," he said. "Or someone will know how to get in touch with him. People around here can do pretty much anything, right?"

"I don't know if..." Shou began, but Juudai cut him off.

"So, do you know what your power is yet?" he asked.

Shou looked acutely uncomfortable. "No. I mean, not yet. I wasn't even sure until I got tested the other day..."

"No worries," said Juudai. "I don't know what mine is, either."

"Really?" Shou asked. He looked a trifle relieved. "I'm glad I'm not the only one, then. I just barely got through the entrance procedures... My S-levels are only a hundred and thirteen."

"That's all you need!" said Juudai. "Maybe they'll get better with practice?"

"I don't think it works like that," Shou replied.

"Why not?" Juudai asked. "I mean, you get smarter if you study more, and get bigger muscles if you exercise more, so shouldn't your powers get stronger if you use them more? It just make sense."

"I never heard of it happening before," said Shou.

"Aw, c'mon! Don't be like that," said Juudai. "You gotta think positive! I mean, look at me. Everyone said there was no way I'd ever get in, but here I am!"

"So what were your S-levels?" Shou asked.

Juudai shrugged. "No idea."

"You don't know?" Shou asked, sounding surprised. "But you took the test, right?"

"They never told me what I got," said Juudai. "But it must have been good enough, since they let me in, right?"

"That's so weird," said Shou. "They should have told you something."

"Apparently there was something weird with the readings and they couldn't figure it out," said Juudai. "So they're letting me in on something called Clause 214, whatever that is."

Shou stared. "Clause 214? But that's..."

"Stand back, people!" a voice shouted, and someone shoved Juudai roughly aside. "Big man on campus, coming through!"

Juudai staggered and regained his footing. He was annoyed to see that whoever the newcomer was, he'd managed to knock Shou over again.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" he shouted.

The loudmouth paused and looked over his shoulder. He was fair skinned and dark-haired, with sharp features and piercing gray eyes.

"Maybe you shouldn't have been standing where I wanted to walk," he said.

"You can't just go around pushing people!" Juudai protested.

The boy grinned. "Look, I can tell you're the new kid on campus, so let me tell you how it is. This is a school to train fighters, okay? The strongest become heroes, and everyone else gets to either become sidekicks or go home." He turned and began walking away. "Face it, kid - I'm hero material, and you're sidekick material, so you're just going to have to get used to being kicked to the side."

Suddenly Juudai was angry. He caught up to the boy and grabbed his shoulder, jerking him around to face him again.

"That's not what being a hero is about!" said Juudai. "It's not about who's strongest. It's about helping people who need help. You don't need to be super strong to do that. All you need is to be willing to do the stuff that needs doing."

"That's easy for you to say," the boy scoffed, "but it's no good being _willing_ if you haven't got the power to back it up. What kind of power have you got?"

"I don't know yet," said Juudai.

The boy snorted. "So what are you going to do if a monster attacks? Make a stirring speech? Please. Call me when you can do something impressive, and then maybe you'll convince me you're some kind of hero."

He shoved Juudai aside and began walking dramatically up the gangplank, his long black duster flapping behind him.

He was nearly at the top when he smacked hard into something invisible, staggered backwards, missed his footing, and rolled back down to the bottom again.

"Sorry, Manjoume," said a sweet and totally unrepentant voice. "I was just getting some practice in before school starts."

Juudai looked up to see a girl standing at the top of the gangplank. She appeared to be about his age, with long blonde hair and a determined expression. She was smiling, but she still had an air about her that suggested that trifling with her would not be the brightest idea in the world.

Manjoume, meanwhile, was trying to untangle himself from his jacket and get himself on his feet again.

"All right, who's the wise guy who... Oh, it's you," he said, abruptly deflating. "I mean... Hi, Asuka. Long time no see?"

"Hello to you too," she said. "Glad to see you're making friends."

"Right, friends," said Manjoume, still sounding slightly dazed from his fall. "Thanks for.. I mean, nice to..." he stammered, but she was already walking away.

"Come on," said Juudai to Shou. "Let's get on board while he's still untangling himself."

The two of them sprinted up the gangplank. Things were a bit quieter on the ship's deck. The students up there were the ones who already had their acts together and were content to chat with their friends and lean on the railings while they watched the first-years and late arrivals rush around trying to figure out what they were doing. There were teachers up there, too, keeping watch over things, which tended to put a damper on any potential misbehavior.

"Hey, who are all these people?" Juudai asked, looking around.

Shou shrugged. "Don't know. This is my first year. I mean, I've heard my brother talk about some of them, but I haven't met most of them myself..."

"Your brother?" Juudai asked. "You never told me you had a brother."

"Well, sure I didn't," said Shou, looking exasperated. "We've only known each other for less than an hour!"

"Still, it's the kind of thing you'd tell somebody," said Juudai. "So what about your brother? He goes here too?"

Shou nodded. "He didn't even need to get tested. He got his powers in really early, so he's been training here since practically before he could walk."

"Wow," said Juudai, suitably impressed. "He must be _really_ tough."

He knew that not everyone started their training at fifteen, even if it was traditional. The school admitted students who manifested their powers early, particularly in cases where the powers were actually a danger to their owners unless they could be gotten under control, or if they had such numerous or flexible powers that it would take them a long time to learn to master everything they could do. To be admitted so young meant that Shou's brother had to be truly exceptional.

"Yeah," said Shou, without enthusiasm. "He can do it all - fly, shoot energy beams, super-fast healing, super strength, _and_ he's got the highest S-levels in the whole school. Not just in the school, either. They say he's the best anyone's seen in the last ten years."

"Whoa," said Juudai reverently. "That _is_ tough."

"Yeah," Shou replied, without much enthusiasm.

"Hey, you don't sound psyched," said Juudai. "What's wrong? If I had a brother like that, I'd be proud of him."

"Well, yeah," said Shou defensively. "I mean, I am, but... everybody always compares me to him, and I always come up short. He's been manifesting powers since he was born, and I haven't done it at all. He's tall and good-looking and I'm short and scrawny. He's got record-setting S-levels and I'm barely a blip on the scale. I'm a disappointment just by existing."

"Hey, that's no way to look at it!" said Juudai. "It's not how powerful you are. It's how good you are at using what you've got. There are plenty of heroes out there who only have middling S-levels but they're smart about how they use them. You don't even know what your talent is yet, so how can you be so sure it's no good? I bet once you learn to use them, you'll be unstoppable. So buck up, okay?"

Juudai thought this was an excellent speech - one of the better ones he'd given in his lifetime, in fact - but Shou still didn't look convinced.

"Hey, look at it this way," Juudai continued. "You're going to be hanging around me, and I don't even have a clue what my S-levels are. You've gotta look good compared to me, right?"

That did make Shou smile a little. "Maybe I can pretend you're my big brother instead of Ryou?"

Juudai laughed. "Sure, why not? It's not like I've ever had a little brother before. Might be fun!"

Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of a girl - the same girl, in fact, who had blocked Manjoume's ascension up the gangplank.

"Excuse me," she said. "Did I hear you say that you were Ryou's brother? As in, Ryou Marufuji?"

"Um, yeah," said Shou, looking a bit starstruck. Juudai supposed he couldn't be blamed for that. The girl was quite pretty, with her sleek blonde hair and warm amber eyes, and she was wearing the sort of form-fitting costume favored by many heroes who expected to be in the thick of the action and didn't want to snag themselves on something while they were there. It was enough to make any susceptible young man stare a little.

The girl smiled. "You must be Shou, then. I'm Tenjoin Asuka, one of Ryou's friends."

"Oh! Yeah, I think I heard you mention him - I mean, mentioned him heard you..." Shou stammered.

Juudai saved him from further embarrassment by thrusting out his hand.

"Hi!" he said. "I'm Yuuki Juudai! Nice to meet you!"

"Pleased to make your acquaintance," she said. She gave him a brief firm handshake, cool and professional. "Are you new this year, then? I started last year, and I don't remember seeing you before."

"Yeah, this is my first year. I'm super excited!" Juudai enthused.

She smiled. "I'm glad to see your encounter with Manjoume didn't dampen your enthusiasm."

Juudai frowned a little at the memory. "Yeah, what's his deal? I wasn't doing anything to him."

"He's just like that," said Asuka, with a resigned little shrug. "He's the only one in his family with powers, but they're all really rich and important, so he thinks the world revolves around him." She made a face. "The trouble is, he really is as good as he thinks he is. I'd steer clear of him, if I were you, unless you really think you're up for a fight. Maybe not even then. He plays dirty."

"I'll keep it in mind," said Juudai. "What does he do, anyway?"

"Runs his mouth, mostly," said Asuka wryly. "But he also throws electricity around - shoots lightning bolts, makes electronics short out, that sort of thing. Not only that, but he has a couple of creepy friends who follow him around, and they help him set ambushes for people. You don't want to make an enemy out of him."

"Aw, it'll be okay," said Juudai. "He won't catch me that easy!"

Asuka looked quizzical. "Why? What is it you do, anyway?"

Juudai shrugged. "No idea. I'm planning on figuring it out pretty soon, though!"

She smiled and shook her head. "Well, this is going to be interesting, isn't it? Well, you can't say I didn't warn you."

"So, what's your power?" Shou asked. He was obviously tired of being left out of the conversation, and wanted to get Asuka's attention again. "My brother said you were good, but he never really talked about what you do."

Asuka's smile turned more genuine. She made a quick hand gesture, and Shou suddenly lurched about six inches off the ground.

"Whoa!" he yelped. He wobbled and toppled back onto his rear. He bounced slightly when he landed, as if he'd fallen on an invisible balloon that was holding him half a foot in the air. Asuka laughed.

"Sorry! Couldn't resist," she said. She waved her hand again, and Shou drifted gently to the ground. "I make force fields. I've gotten pretty good at them, actually."

"Hey, that's really cool!" said Juudai. "Not really my style, but..."

She raised an eyebrow. "Not flashy enough for you? What sort of powers would you want, then?"

Juudai rubbed the back of his neck and grinned. "I dunno. I keep changing my mind."

"Maybe it's good you haven't got your powers then," she said archly. "Whatever you get, you're stuck with. Right now, they could still be anything."

Juudai brightened. "Hey, you know, I never thought of that! That's pretty good!"

"Glad to be of help," she said. "Anyway, I'm going to go figure out where my loony brother's gotten off to. Enjoy your trip. I'll probably be seeing you two around."

She wandered off and disappeared into the milling crowd. The ship was getting more lively now that most of the students had gotten their luggage loaded in and were now on deck waiting for the ship to set sail. Even as Juudai was looking around, he heard the ship's horn give a blast.

"Five minute warning!" someone shouted over the loudspeakers. "Anybody who can't fly, teleport, wormhole, or breathe underwater, you'd better get up the gangplank now!"

There was a murmur of laughter from those already on board, and a sudden flurry of panic from those students who hadn't already made it to the deck. A few people who actually _could_ fly began whizzing around overhead, just to prove they could. The spectacle delighted Juudai, and he laughed aloud.

"This is great," he said. "I know I'm gonna like it here."

Very soon, the boat gave a great rush of engines and began cutting its stately way through the gently lapping waves around the peers. The students gathered at the railing shouted final goodbyes to their friends and families, waving and shouting and shooting off colored bursts of light and various other special effects. Juudai managed to press through the crowds long enough to wave a final goodbye to his parents, who he could just see somewhere in the middle of the crowd. Inevitably, though, he was jostled out of the way and became lost in the crowd of other students. By the time the mass had cleared up a little, he could no longer see the people on the dock as anything but an indistinct mass that was soon lost from sight altogether. Juudai felt a momentary pang. He'd never been away from his home and family before now, and it struck him for an instant that he was now completely on his own, with no one but himself to fall back on if anything went wrong for him. It almost - _almost_ \- made him want to run to the front of the ship and beg the captain to turn the boat around and take him back so he could try this again next year when he had a better idea what he was doing.

Then he shook the feeling off again. This was his dream come true, and he wasn't stupid enough to throw it aside just because of a momentary bout of homesickness. He already had friends here, and he was sure he'd make more soon. He wasn't going to be in this alone.

Besides, he was pretty sure they wouldn't turn the boat around for him anyway.

He'd gotten separated from Shou in the midst of all the commotion, and now he couldn't see where the little guy had gone. That was, Juudai decided, the problem with making friends with short people. He shrugged. It wasn't that big of a boat - if he kept walking around, he was bound to find him sooner or later. In the meantime, this was a good opportunity to meet some of his other schoolmates.

Juudai began wandering around, looking at the other milling students. Most of the older students obviously already knew each other and had gathered into little clusters, but there was still a visible minority of people who were newcomers like Juudai, and were therefore still milling around looking for a group they could attach themselves to. A few loners were leaning against the railings, looking out at the sea, lost in their own thoughts.

Juudai, true to his nature, ambled up to one of them, a tall, lanky man with a brimmed hat tipped low over his face. He had his back against the rail, to all appearance half-asleep. Curled around his feet was the reason everyone else seemed to be giving him a wide berth: a massive green crocodile that watched the crowds with sleepy eyes. Juudai studied it a moment before deciding it didn't look that aggressive, and he strolled a little closer.

"Hi!" he said. "I'm Juudai! Who are you?"

The man pushed up his hat and gave Juudai a good look. His face was angular and suntanned, framed by spikes of black hair. The one eye Juudai could see was brilliant green, but the other was covered by strips of white cloth that Juudai would have called bandages if there had been any sign of injury.

"You're a brave one, aren't you, mate?" he asked. "Well, pleased to meet you, Juudai. I'm Jim Cook, and this is my girl Karen."

The crocodile gave a little grunt, as if she understood exactly what Jim had just said. Maybe she did.

"She's... pretty impressive!" said Juudai. Any fear he'd felt was rapidly waning, and he smiled down at the placid beast. "Hey, there, Karen! What's up?"

The crocodile grunted again and blinked her eyes in a sleepy, friendly sort of way.

"I think she likes you," said Jim. "Which is good, because I don't make friends with anyone who can't get along with Karen. New student?"

"Yup!" Juudai agreed.

"Same here," said Jim. "Maybe we'll see each other around, eh?"

"Sure!" said Juudai. "So, hey, what's your power, huh?"

Jim's smile was enigmatic. "I have a crocodile."

"That's it?"

"What else do I need?" Jim replied.

Juudai couldn't think of an answer to that.

Jim straightened up a little, giving Juudai a more serious look. "You know, there's something a mite odd about you. I can't quite put my finger on it, but..."

"Juudai!" shouted a voice, and an instant later Juudai felt a pair of small arms flinging themselves around his waist. "There you went! I was looking all over for you!"

Juudai laughed, recognizing Shou's voice. "Hey, I was looking for you too! It's not my fault you're so short!"

"It's not my fault either!" Shou protested. "Anyway, I found the way downstairs. There's food down there, and videos and stuff!"

"Awesome! I could really go for something to eat," said Juudai, who'd had an excellent farewell breakfast not two hours ago.

"Then let's go, before all the good stuff is gone!" Shou caught Juudai's sleeve and began hauling him below deck.

As promised, there was a nice buffet set up down there, and Juudai wasted no time in helping himself to a plate piled high with sliced fruit, mini bagels, muffins, doughnuts, slices of quiche, and similar dainties. Shou, who seemed to be too nervous to eat much, nibbled a ham biscuit and watched with evident amazement as Juudai went back for second and third helpings.

"Let me guess," drawled a voice behind Juudai. "Your superpower involves an increased metabolism rate."

"Nope," said Juudai, swallowing a mouthful of croissant. "Just hungry."

He turned to find himself being regarded by a dark-haired young man with intelligent gray eyes and a rather smug expression. Juudai frowned, trying to remember where he'd seen this boy before.

"Hey," he said, "didn't I see you at the entrance exams?"

The boy looked pleased. "Ahh, so you remember me."

"Yeah, that's right," said Juudai. "You were doing some math problems or something. Man, you got the most boring power ever," he added, with heartfelt sympathy.

His sympathy apparently earned him no points. The boy's self-satisfied expression melted into a faint frown.

"That is one of my abilities, yes," he said. "I can perform even the most complex equations in my head almost instantly. I can also pass through solid objects by temporarily altering their molecular structure, and I have what is mistakenly called 'x-ray vision', though in my case it has less to do with the presence of x-rays than of the ability to..."

He continued on his increasingly technical descriptions of his powers while Juudai and Shou looked at each other in utter bafflement.

"So what you're saying," said Juudai at last, "is that you can do a lot of really cool stuff?"

The boy sighed. "I suppose you could put it that way, if you must. Perhaps it would be easier for you to understand if I simply told you that my S-levels are five hundred eighty seven?"

Both Juudai and Shou whistled in unison.

"Wow, that's really high," said Shou enviously. "I mean, my brother's a little over six hundred, but... wow, that's really good. I'm only in the hundreds..."

The other boy smiled indulgently. "Well, we all have our parts to play. Some of us have to be leaders and some of us have to be sidekicks. And if your brother has S-levels of over six hundred, I'm guessing you must be Marufuji Ryou's brother."

Juudai saw Shou wince a little and realized that he hadn't been kidding. Apparently being Marufuji Ryou's brother came with a few drawbacks, after all.

"Yeah, that's me," said Shou. "I'm Shou."

"Misawa Daichi," the other boy said grandly, with a gracious inclination of his head. Then he turned to Juudai. "And you are...?"

"Yuuki Juudai," Juudai replied. "Nice to meet you!"

"I don't remember seeing you at the trials," said Misawa thoughtfully. "Just what is it that you do?"

Juudai shrugged. He was starting to get the feeling that he was going to get tired of answering this question. "I dunno. Haven't figured that out yet."

"I see," said Misawa, giving him a measuring look. "So, what are your S-levels, then?"

"No idea," Juudai admitted.

Misawa's eyes widened. Juudai thought he looked almost offended. "You don't know?"

"Nope," said Juudai. "They measured me three times but they never told me what I actually got."

"What did they tell you when they admitted you, then?" Misawa persisted.

"They said something about a Clause 214," said Juudai.

"Oh!" said Misawa, as if that explained everything. Then his eyes narrowed. "That seems highly irregular to me."

"It's not my fault! I didn't ask them to do it," said Juudai.

"Well, you should have," said Misawa disapprovingly. "I'm going to ask a teacher about this. Excuse me.."

He drifted off through the crowd.

"Well, that was weird," said Juudai. He turned to Shou. "Why does everyone get so weird over this Clause 214 thing, anyway? What is it?"

"You don't even know what it is?" Shou asked. "I thought everyone knew. It's almost an urban legend."

"Well, I never heard of it," said Juudai. "So explain. What is it?"

"It's the, uh... well, they call it the 'badass normal clause'," Shou mumbled. "I mean, this is supposed to be a school for supers, right? But sometimes someone wants to be a hero even when they have no powers, so if they can prove they're good enough to keep up, they can get in under Clause 214. It's the one that says you can stay if you can pass the classes even if you haven't got any powers."

Juudai's jaw dropped. "Wait... are you saying I _don't_ have powers, after all?" He'd been so sure...

"Well, maybe! I don't know!" said Shou. "You said they didn't tell you what your results were, right? So maybe you do have powers and they just couldn't get a fix on them? You said they did it three times, right? Maybe... I don't know... they kept getting different numbers or something?"

Juudai seized eagerly on the possibility. "Yeah, that could be it! I'll bet that's what happened. I'll ask a teacher about it as soon as we get to the island."

Shou nodded. Juudai detected a trace of concern in his expression still - probably worrying that when he did ask a teacher, the answer would be that no, he didn't have any talents, but Juudai refused to believe that. He'd always known deep down that he had some sort of special ability, even if he wasn't quite sure what it was or could be, and he wasn't about to lose hope now. Even if a teacher told him that he truly didn't have anything special about him and they'd only let him into the school out of pity, he still wasn't going to believe it. He was going to surprise everyone.

"So, you said something about videos?" asked Juudai.

Shou nodded more enthusiastically this time, apparently glad to have a chance to change the subject. "Yeah, two of them. There's some sort of cartoon in that room, and in that one they're watching Lethal Ninja, and over there they're playing Sword of the Dragon King III, and the last room has a video game tournament going on. I think they were playing Bullet Sky last time I checked."

"Cool," said Juudai. "Which one do you want to see?"

"Umm..." said Shou, looking abashed.

"Right," said Juudai. "Cartoons it is."

Shou looked surprised. "How did you... Why did you...?"

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with cartoons. I like cartoons!" Juudai replied. "Come on, let's go check it out."

He turned and began dragging Shou in the direction of the promised cartoons. As he did so, he caught a glimpse of someone lurking at the edge of the crowd. He was so out of place that Juudai couldn't help but stare at him. While everyone else on the ship seemed to be excited, buzzing about snatching up sugary foods and catching up with their friends, this boy simply stood, quietly, unmoving, watching everything without speaking or reacting. While the others were for the most part dressed in bright colors and flashy costumes, this boy wore charcoal black and slate gray that made him seem to blend into the shadows.

"Hey," said Juudai, turning to Shou, who had stopped to look at him quizzically. "Who's that guy over there?"

"Which one?" Shou asked. "The one in the gold sequined cape?"

"No, not that one. The one in the corner - the one all in black."

Shou adjusted his glasses. "Where? I don't see anyone like that."

"Huh? But he was just..." Juudai looked, but the strange boy had already vanished. Juudai stared a moment longer, then shrugged. "Huh. That's weird. Maybe I was wrong." Already he was beginning to forget what it was that had so disturbed him about the odd apparition. He turned and began ambling down the hall. "So, about those cartoons..."

* * *

There was a commotion at the back of the room, and Juudai looked up. He'd been enjoying watching movies and occasionally participating in casual popcorn fights (a chaperone had intervened when one of the students had started setting the popcorn on fire before she threw it), and had almost forgotten what it was he was there for. When he heard the noise, though, he was out of his chair before he had time to think about it.

"Are we there? Are we there?" he asked eagerly.

Shou got up eagerly and began dragging him towards the door. "Let's go see!"

The two of them joined the crowds of students who were surging towards the ship's deck. Juudai blinked as he stepped into the sunlight. The smell of the sea air was strong on deck, and seagulls were screeching overhead. Juudai grinned. That confirmed it: they were close to land. Sure enough, when he joined the press of other passengers gathering near the bow of the ship, he could see the first faint wisps of smoke from the volcano at the heart of the island. Then, as they drew closer still, he saw the peak of the volcanic cone, and then a gradually spreading haze of green that was the forest surrounding it. He felt a grin stealing over his face. He'd made it. Academy Island was unfolding before him in all its dreamlike glory. Seeing it made him feel like he could do anything.

By the time they pulled into the island's tiny harbor he could hardly sit still. He joined the rush of other students making their way to the pier and allowed himself to be marched up to the main building with the rest of the students. Those who had attended in previous years hustled off to their dormitories to unpack their things and get settled in. The new students, however, were sent to the main building to be given an orientation.

"Man," Juudai muttered. "You know, when I signed up for this school, I didn't think it would be so much like, you know... _school_."

"What did you think it would be like?" Shou asked.

"I dunno. Not boring speeches and junk," said Juudai. "Hey, I have an idea! Let's ditch this and go exploring."

Shou looked scandalized. "We can't do that! We'll get into trouble!"

"How come?" Juudai asked. "They aren't doing anything important here. Besides, we're supposed to be here learning, right? Won't we learn more if we find it out for ourselves?"

"But what if we miss something important?" Shou asked.

"We'll ask about it later," said Juudai. "Come on! Let's go this way."

As the two of them passed by a row of ornamental obelisks that lined the path to the main building, Juudai grabbed Shou's arm and hauled him behind one of them. Beyond its shelter was a clump of soft shrubbery, and there was nothing easier than to crawl beneath them and scramble out of sight. These bushes had been there for quite a while, and although the outsides were dense, the heart of them was nearly hollow. It made a good place to hide. In fact, judging by the scraps of trash scattered there, students had already been using it to either get out of classes or have clandestine makeout sessions for years. One particularly large shrub even had a set of initials carved into its trunk. Juudai made a mental note not to use this escape route again unless he was very sure no one else was already in there. He suspected the only reason someone wasn't in there now was that everyone was too busy with back to school things to have gotten around to it yet.

Still, the passage of students from bygone years had left a well-cut path for others to follow. Juudai and Shou were able to creep along on their hands and knees until they emerged at the edge of a forest. From there, it was easy for them to slip through the shadows and brush until they emerged at the edge of a smooth green lawn. Juudai grinned. They had, apparently, found one of the dormitories. It was a large one, white with a blue roof, and already had a sizeable crowd of people stirring around it, hauling their luggage inside.

"Hey, nice place," said Juudai, admiring the building. "Think this is going to be our dorm?"

"I don't think so," said Shou. "That's the Blue dorm."

"Yeah, I see it's blue."

"No, I mean this is the Blue dorm. There are other colors," said Shou. "The best students, the ones with the highest S-levels and best grades get put here. They're the ones who are expected to be the leaders of their own teams someday. I know because that's where my brother lives."

Juudai gave Shou an interested look. He had not previously been aware of this aspect of school life. "So what are the other dorms, then?"

"Well, there's the Yellow dorm. That's the one for people whose abilities aren't suited for field work - the ones who make better technicians than fighters."

"Sounds dull," said Juudai. "Man, I really hope I'm not in that one."

Shou took out the PDA that all the new students had been issued upon arrival.

"Says here we're both in the Red dorm," he said, and sighed. "I'm not surprised."

"So which one is that one?" Juudai asked.

"The sidekick dorm," said Shou. "That's where they put you if they figure you'll never amount to enough to manage on your own."

"Well, that's stupid," said Juudai. "They don't know anything about us yet! We might turn out to be really good at this hero business, and they'd have gone and put us in the wrong place."

"Oh, you don't like your dorm?" said an amused voice.

Juudai turned around. While he'd been talking, another boy of about the same age as Juudai and Shou, or perhaps even a little younger, had come up beside them. He was very pale, and he'd played up that property by wearing a sharply tailored pale gray suit. The only bright thing about him were his eyes, which were a luminous blue against the near-white of his skin.

"Well, yeah, I don't," said Juudai. He was aware of Shou tugging at his sleeve, but since he couldn't see any reason for concern, he ploughed onward. "I mean, I didn't come all this way just to be somebody's sidekick."

"So, you think you're hero material, do you?" the stranger replied. "You don't look like much to me."

"Yeah, well, neither do you," said Juudai. "That's not much of a costume you've got there."

The boy only smiled. "Better than yours."

Juudai looked down at his tattered sneakers and frayed jeans and was forced to admit the boy might have a point.

"Anyway," the stranger continued, "if you don't like this dorm, you could always ask to be transferred to the Black dormitory."

"Hey!" Shou protested, sounding honestly offended. "You can't talk to him like that!"

"It was just a friendly suggestion," said the boy. "If I remember my history corrected, most of the students in the Black dorm started out in Red. It seemed like a reasonable idea."

"Well, it's not," Shou snapped.

"Hey, calm down. It was just a joke," said the blue-eyed boy. "I didn't mean anything by it."

"So, what's the Black dorm, then?" Juudai persisted.

"It's just a story," said the boy. "There was a rumor going around a while back that a bunch of the students were getting together after curfew and sneaking into the woods together and having their own secret little club meetings. They called their clubhouse the Black dorm. It's not a real dorm. Anyway, the school caught them and shut the whole thing down."

"Huh," said Juudai, feeling somewhat disappointed. The idea of a secret dorm sounded like fun to him. He realized he was a little bit sorry it didn't exist so he could join it. "So you're in the Blue dorm, then?"

"Clever deduction," said the boy.

"So, your S-levels must be really high, huh?" said Juudai.

The boy grinned broadly. "Fifty-three."

"Fifty-three?" Juudai's jaw dropped. "But that's impossible! They don't even let you in if you're that low. How'd you end up here?"

"Simple," said the boy. "It's a little something they call Clause 214. Ever heard of it?"

"Oh, yeah!" said Juudai brightening. "That's the same rule they used to let me in!"

Instantly, the boy's friendly smile fell away, to be replaced by a deep scowl.

"You've _got_ to be kidding me," he growled.

"Nope!" said Juudai. "Says right here!"

He brandished his PDA, and the pale boy ripped it out of his hands to read the screen.

" Yuuki Juudai, age fifteen, Red dorm, S-levels undetermined, admitted under Clause 214..." He looked up, annoyed. "What the hell does that mean, undetermined?"

"Search me. I'd like to know myself," said Juudai.

The boy's eyes narrowed. "So what did you do to prove yourself?"

"Huh?" said Juudai blankly.

"To prove yourself. To show them that you have what it takes," said the boy. "If you want to be a real hero, you're going to have to stand up against some of the most powerful and dangerous people in the world. Do you even understand that? When I applied to this school, I had to prove that I was smart enough, fast enough, and strong enough to hold my own against people with genuine superpowers, and I've been working ten times as hard as any other student on this island just so I can keep up. So, I repeat: What. Did. You. Do?"

Juudai took a step back, startled by the boy's intensity. Too surprised to hedge, he said, "I didn't do anything. I just showed up to take the blood tests and they told me later I could come in."

"I don't _believe_ this!" the boy snapped. "This is ridiculous. I have devoted every minute of my life to being good enough to hold a place here, and I am not going to just stand back and watch while you saunter in and get everything handed to you on a silver platter, do you understand that? Now, today is the first day of school, which means I'm not allowed to start anything with you. As soon as classes start, though? I'm making it my business to show everyone that you don't belong here. You can count on it."

With that, he turned and swept away. Juudai watched him go, feeling as disoriented as if the boy had hit him. Shou sighed.

"I tried to warn you," he said.

"Geez," said Juudai. "That guy has some issues."

"His name is Edo Phoenix," said Shou. "I've heard my brother mention him a couple of times. He said he's the only person around here who's worth competing with, whatever that means. I can't tell if he likes him or hates him."

"Well, warn me faster next time!" Juudai stared at Edo's retreating back. "Jeez. So many people around here have attitudes. I think I'm glad they put me in the Red dorm, after all. I bet the people in there aren't so stuck on themselves."

"You might be right. I hadn't thought of it that way," Shou admitted. "So... maybe we should go back to our dorms, now? They'll probably be serving dinner soon."

"Ooh, yeah, dinner! Great idea," said Juudai. "I really wanna see what our rooms look like, too."

Shou looked relieved. Juudai supposed he couldn't blame him. In retrospect, it seemed like his exploring idea hadn't come off so well. That was okay, though. He would explore some more later. For now, though, exploring his dorm's dining hall was as far as he needed to roam.

"Race you there!" he said, and took off at a sprint.

"Hey, wait up!" Shou protested. "Your legs are longer than mine!"

"I'll save you a seat!" Juudai shouted back, and ran off towards his dorm.


	3. A Token Effort

The teacher hadn't arrived yet. Juudai squirmed in his seat, waiting impatiently for something to happen. He'd snared a good seat - close enough to the front that he'd have a good view of whatever was going on, but not so close that the teacher would be able to see his every move. Shou had chosen to sit next to him, which Juudai appreciated. It had turned out that the two of them were roommates, which had pleased both of them. It was nice to know that they were going to be quartered with someone they could get along with. They'd walked to class together. Now Juudai looked around the room, picking out other familiar faces: Asuka, Manjoume, Misawa, Edo, Jim and his crocodile.

"Where's the teacher?" Manjoume was complaining to his companions on either side of him. "You'd think he of all people would know not to be late..."

Juudai quickly got bored with his complaints and turned his attention elsewhere. A couple of the students, likewise bored with waiting, had flown or teleported up to one of the ceiling beams, where they sat and snickered among themselves, obviously plotting mischief. Juudai wondered what they were up to.

He was still wondering when the teacher finally strode in. Juudai stared. He knew that all the teachers at this school were retired heroes, men and women who had done their duty on the field and had come here to pass on what they had learned. Juudai had imagined himself learning from solemn, battle-scared warriors, perhaps gray-haired now but still muscular and strong.

He had not imagined anything like this man. The professor who had just walked in was tall, yes, but string-bean thin, scrawny-necked and pinch-faced. If there had ever been a less heroic-looking man, Juudai hadn't seen him.

"Class, come to order!" he barked.

The commotion in the class died down to whispers and murmurs. The teacher's eyes swept the room, glaring at patches of students until they subsided into silence.

"Thank you," he said sourly. "For those who are new to our school, I am Professor Chronos, and I will be teaching you the fundamentals of practical battlefield tactics."

The murmuring resumed. Juudai got the feeling that the other students in the class felt as he did: that this man didn't look very likely to know very much about practical battlefield tactics.

A flicker of motion drew Juudai's eye to the ceiling, where one of the students had produced a water balloon and was carefully lining it up above Chronos's head.

"Uh-oh," Shou muttered, following Juudai's gaze.

"Today," said Chronos, "you will all be given the task of demonstrating your abilities. Once I've seen what you all can do, I will be able to more accurately gauge where you need the most improvement."

The prankster released the balloon. It plummeted ten feet from the ceiling, and... stopped, as if someone had just pressed the pause button on that particular fragment of the universe. A blink later, the professor seemed to blur and suddenly appear at the other end of the room. The balloon began moving again, dropping to splatter harmlessly on the floor. Chronos eyed it disapprovingly.

"We will also," he continued, "be learning _discipline_ , particularly with regards to not _wasting our abilities._ "

The remains of the balloon began to regather themselves, the water flowing back into a neat orb until the balloon was smooth and whole again. It rose into the air to hover in front of the baffled students. One of them finally reached out to take it.

"For the record," Chronos continued, "my particular abilities involve manipulating the flow of time. I don't suggest attempting to play any more pranks on me. I can undo them as fast as you do them, so we will both be annoyed to no purpose. Now, if you will get down from there, we can begin our lesson."

He began herding students through a set of wide double doors in the back of the room. Juudai's eyes brightened as he saw what was on the other side.

"Now this is more like it!" he said aloud.

The room was massive, a great circular room that was easily five stories high and so wide that Juudai would have gotten winded if he ran across it. Strewn across the space were a broad assortment of obstacles: trenches full of water, poles with nets stretched between them, patches of sand or ice, pits, walls, even trees. Beams crossed the overhead space with dangling ropes or sheets of canvas. Everywhere Juudai looked, he saw places to hide, things to climb, things that could be stumbled over, things that could be thrown at someone. It was a dream obstacle course, and it looked like he was about to be turned loose on it.

Chronos fished in the pockets of his long jacket and took out several handfuls of metal disks, each about three inches across and painted in bright colors, all hanging from matching ribbons.

"I am dividing you all into teams," he announced. "Each team will be getting several of these tokens, a different color for each team. You will all be stationed around the perimeter of the room, and your task will be to make it across to the other side, where you will find a bin corresponding to the color of your medals. Your mission is to get your tokens across the room and into the bin. You may also attempt to steal tokens from the other players. Tokens may not be removed from the bins once they've been placed there. Any team who attempts this will lose points. The game is over when I blow my whistle or when all the tokens have been deposited into bins. The team who has the most tokens in their team's bin at the end of the game will receive a prize. You may use your powers, but there will be a penalty invoked for unnecessary violence. Are there any questions?"

"What counts as unnecessary?" piped up a voice in the back of the crowd.

Chronos smiled faintly. "You'll find out if you try, won't you? Just remember that the object of the game is to take the tokens, not to hurt the other players. Understood?"

This time there were murmurs of agreement.

"Very well," said Chronos. "I'll divide you up into your teams. Once you are in place, you will have fifteen minutes to plan your strategies."

He began sorting the students into groups of five and arranging them at different points around the room. Juudai found himself on the same team as Shou, Jim, Misawa, and a boy named Hayato that Juudai had been introduced to at the dinner last night.

"All right, how are we going to do this?" asked Jim.

"I'm not going to be of much help," said Hayato.

"I'll be the judge of that," said Jim.

Misawa raised an eyebrow. "Who made you our leader?"

Jim didn't rise to the bait. He merely smiled pleasantly and said, "I prefer to think of myself as a coordinator more than a leader. If you have ideas, toss 'em out."

Misawa didn't look like he knew whether or not to be mollified by this. He took a stab at it anyway.

"So, what are our resources?" he asked.

Juudai and Shou looked at each other and shrugged.

"I can run pretty fast," Juudai offered. "And Shou's pretty small so he'll be hard to see."

"Wonderful," Misawa drawled. "I'm sure those will both be immensely useful attributes."

Jim ignored him. Instead, he turned to Hayato. "So, what do you do?"

"Um, I draw things," Hayato mumbled. He demonstrated by taking out a pen and sketching something in the air. A little pen-and-ink squirrel appeared, two-dimensional but moving on its own power. It scampered around on the floor for a few seconds before scurrying up a wall and disappearing into the tangle of obstacles.

"They don't last long," said Hayato, "and they can't really hurt much. I mean, you push them and they fall right over. They work better if I actually draw them on paper or the wall or something."

Jim shrugged. "We'll work with what we've got."

Misawa sighed. "It doesn't seem very promising, does it?"

"Oh, I don't know," said Jim. "There's always a way."

He began unfastening the bandages around his eye. Juudai stared. Whereas the one eye was a perfectly normal eye in a pleasant shade of green, the other was smooth and gray, and didn't seem to be made of any normal human material.

"Whoa," said Shou. "What is that?"

"My special party trick," said Jim. "Don't get excited, mate. It doesn't shoot lasers or any such thing. It just lets me see the lay of the land a little better, you might say."

"X-ray vision?" asked Misawa, sounding faintly dismissive. "I can already do that."

"Nah," said Jim. "This is something a little different." He turned slowly, seeming to analyze the room, its plethora of traps, and his teammates in minute detail.

"All right," he said, "here's what I think we should do..."

They were just wrapping up the final details when Chronos blew his whistle.

"Students, begin!" he bellowed, and the fight was on.

Shou burst into view, carrying a cluster of five ribbons clutched in one hand, the attached medallions sparkling at the end of them as he ran. He scooted around the perimeter of the room, and several over-eager students went pelting after him. Juudai watched him go, feeling rather impressed. The little guy could move pretty fast when he had the right incentive. Of course, the tokens he was carrying were fakes, carefully drawn up by Hayato. They wouldn't fool a close observer, but when they were fluttering and flashing alongside a rapidly running boy, it was hard to tell the difference.

"Juudai, time to go," said Jim, giving him a clap on the back, and Juudai nodded and bounded out into the fray.

And he almost stopped running. He and his friends had been hiding in the shelter of a large crate that had been lying on its side close to their starting point, which gave them some temporary shelter while they arranged their plans, but also made it hard to see what everyone else was doing. Now Juudai could see it, and it was the most astonishing thing he'd ever seen. After spending the better part of yesterday first on a boat and then in a dormitory full of young supers, he'd more or less gotten used to being surrounded by them, but this was the first time he'd ever seen them using their abilities en masse. Overhead, the ones with flight capabilities were zipping around chasing each other and dodging around the beams and hanging obstacles, while the wall-crawlers leaped and swung and bounded in their wake. Things were even more chaotic on the ground. From where he stood, Juudai could see a dark-skinned young man controlling plumes of fire and setting the scenery aflame, while a good-looking boy with the tanned complexion and shaggy hair of a surfer doused the flames with sheets of snow and ice. Asuka was flitting around at one end of the room, shielding her teammates with her invisible barriers, or turning them into battering rams to shove attackers aside. In another part of the room, a gang of large, burly boys made a rush at Manjoume, only to stop short and collapse as he hurled lightning bolts at them. One person had apparently eschewed traditional fighting styles in favor of turning himself into a tyrannosaurus and stomping across the room with his medals clenched in his spearlike teeth. Juduai could just barely see a tiny dark-haired girl perched on his head, whooping with delight. It was hard to tell if she was being protected by him, guiding him, or if he had captured her and she was simply going with the flow.

"Move it along!" Jim called to him, and Juudai obligingly started running again. He hadn't been lying when he said he was a good runner. He'd known all his life that he wanted to be a hero, so he had practiced by spending a lot of time running and jumping. It hadn't been any sort of serious training program, just a way to make his trips to and from school more interesting, but he put all his skills to use now. He scrambled up a heap of boxes, grabbed a rope dangling from the ceiling, and swung several yards to drop into a sandbox. He skidded a little, regained his footing, and began to run again. Unlike Shou, he was carrying two _real_ medals, and the last thing he wanted was to get caught. He ducked and darted around pockets of fighting, jumped over the T-rex's swinging tail, dove through the still-smouldering remains of a wooden crate, and ran towards the far side of the room.

He was getting close when a bolt of lightning shot past him. Juudai yelped and ducked just in time to avoid getting hit in the head by another one.

"Geez, my aim is way off," Manjoume's voice complained. "Hold still while I'm shooting at you!"

"Not gonna happen!" Juudai called back. He scanned the area, looking for a way out. What did you use to hide from lightning bolts, anyway?

His eye fell on a trench nearby that had been filled with rubber balls. Juudai decided that was good enough and dove into it, burying himself in them and burrowing through them.

"You won't get away from me that easy!" Manjoume shouted at him. Juudai could hear the sound of his feet pounding across the floor towards him.

He also heard the sound of a voice saying, "It's all right, I've got this."

Juudai grinned.

A few seconds later, he emerged from the other end of the ball pit.

"Hey, I'm over here!" he shouted, and someone pushed him back in. He thrashed and sputtered for a while as he tried to find his way out again.

"We knew you were coming," said Asuka, sounding amused and more than a little bit smug. "The whole point of a ball pit is that you can see when someone is moving around in there."

Juudai threw a rubber ball at her. Her shield deflected it, naturally, but she couldn't stop herself from a reflexive flinch. What neither of them was expecting was that it would manage to ricochet off her shield and conk Manjoume squarely on the forehead. He reeled backwards, startled, and stumbled over a coil of rope that had fallen from the ceiling.

"Wow," said Juudai. "What are the odds?"

He scrambled out of the ball pit while Manjoume and Asuka were still collecting their wits. Manjoume rallied first, hurling another bolt of lightning at him. At that same instant, a gush of water came at him from the other direction, and the two streams intersected. The lightning apparently decided it liked this new channel, and it followed the stream of water back to the boy who'd thrown it - the same surfer boy who had been battling the fire-thrower earlier. He gave a yelp as the lightning bolt struck him.

"Hey, that hurt!" he complained, looking like a kicked puppy.

Manjoume looked contrite. "Sorry, Fubuki! I didn't see you there!"

Juudai looked over his shoulder to see if the two of them were coming after him, and smacked into one of Asuka's invisible shields. It stretched like rubber and rebounded him, pitching him back onto the floor. He lay there for a moment, slightly stunned. He had a moment to feel sorry for Manjoume getting thrown down the gangplank - these invisible walls were seriously disorienting. His opponents began slowly gathering around him.

There was a roar from another part of the room, and everyone turned to look. A juggernaut had come bursting out of the box where Juudai and his teammates had been hiding earlier. Nearly everyone in the room turned to look as a tall, broad figure came barreling across the room. He was wearing dazzling silver armor, bright as a mirror, which was covered with... well, practically everything. A laser cannon was mounted on one shoulder, while the other had a live dragon head spitting little tongues of flame. A drill bit protruded from the chest plate, and spikes stuck out wherever they could be made to fit. A pair of fiery wings, trailing sparks, were mounted on his back. Nobody quite seemed to know what to make of him, and there was a brief lull in the fighting as various fighters drew back to consider their strategies and regroup.

By the time Juudai's three opponents had stopped staring and remembered he was there, he was already up and gone.

"Boy," said Juudai to himself, "that Hayato sure can draw!"

He had nearly made it to his goal when he became aware of a shadow looming over him. He turned just in time to see a huge pair of jaws dipping down towards him. He gave a cry of alarm, but the dagger-like teeth only seized on the hem of his jacket and lifted him up in the air. He thrashed a bit, realized how much it would hurt if he fell on his face from this height, and stopped thrashing.

The girl who had been riding on the dinosaur leaned down to smile at him.

"Hi there!" she chirped. "Glad you could join us! You reeeeeeally want to give us your tokens, don't you? It would make me _so happy_ if you would!"

Juudai felt himself relaxing. Of course he wanted to give his tokens to this girl. She was so nice and so cute, he wanted to make her happy. He didn't need these stupid tokens anyway. Clearly he should give them to someone who wanted them more...

Then he shook himself. What kind of whammy was this girl trying to lay on him, anyway?

"Sorry," he said. "I'd love to help, but I'm not carrying any tokens."

Her face fell. "What? But I was sure... Why is everyone chasing you if you haven't got any tokens?"

"I don't know," said Juudai. "Why _are_ you chasing me?"

The girl stared at him, apparently trying to formulate an answer to this pressing question and not coming up with any good answers.

"Can I put him down now?" mumbled the dinosaur around a mouthful of Juudai's jacket. "He doesn't taste too good."

"Sure, you can put him..." the girl began.

"Allow me," said a voice.

At that moment, someone swung by on a cable, and Juudai felt himself being snatched from the jaws of the dinosaur. He thought he heard his jacket tear as it was yanked away from those knifelike teeth. He tried to squirm around to see who had saved him from the jaws of - well, if not death, then at least potential embarrassment, but the way he was being carried made it difficult to see much more than his rescuer's shiny shoes and perfectly pressed trouser cuffs.

A moment later, they both dropped onto the springy surface of a sheet of canvas stretched between four poles.

"Oof!" Juudai exclaimed. He had unfortunately landed face-down, and his captor hadn't been particularly gentle with him.

"Oh, get up," said an exasperated voice above his head.

Juudai rolled over, and found Edo Phoenix staring down at him.

"You again!" Juudai exclaimed.

"Me again," Edo agreed. "You know, you could have at least made capturing you a little more challenging. It's no fun catching you if you've already been incapacitated. Did you even try not to get caught?"

Juudai just grinned. "Well, only a little. I was just a decoy anyway."

Edo's eyebrows rose. "A decoy? I know you were carrying tokens when you left your little secret clubhouse." He tugged what looked like a pair of bulky sunglasses partially out of his pocket before slipping them back in again. "These glasses have never failed me. I saw you had them in your pockets."

"Well, now I don't," said Juudai reasonably.

He turned out his pockets, first the ones in his jacket and then those in his jeans, revealing that there were indeed no tokens anywhere on his person.

Edo looked annoyed. "Then where did they go? I know you had them!"

"Try looking over there," said Juudai.

He pointed across the room, where Misawa and Jim were busy stuffing tokens into their team's bin. Edo's jaw dropped.

"How did that happen?" he demanded.

Juudai grinned. "Well, I don't know how Jim did it, but Misawa's got this walking-through-walls trick. When the game started, he ducked underground and walked around the room popping up under people and grabbing stuff and then dropping back down again. He caught up to me when I was in the ball pit and everyone was tracking me, so I gave my tokens to him and he took off with them."

"What? But you... Argh!" Edo snarled in frustration and shoved Juudai off of the tarp. Fortunately they were above one of the pools of water, and Juudai landed with a harmless splash. He came up spluttering and laughing.

Chronos blew his whistle, three short sharp blasts that had everyone freezing in their tracks.

"Time is up!" he shouted. "Everyone stop what you're doing! Turn off your powers! Assemble at the center of the room, please!"

Gradually, the students simmered down. The airborne players came to land on top of the various obstacles nearest the center of the room. Flames died down, shields dissipated, and the tyrannosaur turned into a burly teenaged boy. Juudai hauled himself out of the water and splashed his way over to where the rest of his teammates were gathering. Hayato lumbered over to him, armor vanishing as he went. His skin showed the traces of pen marks on his face and hands, and he was grinning from ear to ear.

"That was great!" he said. "I never thought of drawing on myself before!"

"I thought it might work," said Jim, smiling back.

A heap of rubble stirred, and Shou wriggled out of the debris. His glasses were askew and one sleeve of his uniform was ripped.

"What happened?" he asked. "Did we win?"

"Dunno, but we're going to find out," said Juudai. "How'd it go with you? Are you okay?"

"I think so," said Shou. He adjusted his glasses and attempted to shove his hair back in order. "Are you okay?"

Juudai was a little surprised by the question. It dawned on him that he was soaking wet and the hem of his jacket was ripped where the T-rex had caught him, but despite the number of people trying to attack him, he didn't seem to be even bruised.

"I'm great! Couldn't be better," he assured his friend. "Hey, you did pretty good out there."

Shou looked hopeful. "Did I?"

"Sure. I saw all those people chasing after you. It really helped us a lot," Juudai assured him.

Actually Juudai wasn't sure if it had helped or not, but the smile on Shou's face made him sure he'd said the right thing.

Professor Chronos tallied up the points and announced the winners. Juudai's team hadn't won, but they'd gotten second place, which seemed to surprise a lot of the other groups with flashier powers. Apparently it surprised Chronos, too. The look he gave them was faintly puzzled and faintly disapproving, as if he thought they might have been cheating and couldn't work out how they'd done it. Juudai did his best to look innocent.

"Homework tonight," Chronos announced, "is to write a summary of what you did in this exercise and evaluate what worked and what you might do better next time. I want at least three double-spaced typewritten pages! If I catch anyone trying to hand me illusions or bending space you will be in serious trouble! Is that understood?"

The class agreed that it was, and they hustled off to get ready for their next class. Juudai made sure to time his departure so that he could walk beside Jim.

"Hey," he said, as he caught up to him. "Can I talk to you a minute?"

"If you can do it before we get to class, sure," Jim replied.

"Okay," said Juudai. "I saw you out there on the playing field, and you nabbed a whole bunch of medals. How did you do it?"

Jim shrugged. "I was just in the right place at the right time, that's all."

"There's gotta be more to it than that," said Juudai. "People out there can run at super speeds or fly or teleport or set themselves on fire. How did you get near enough to them to do anything?"

"Like I said. Right place, right time," said Jim. He tapped the bandages that once again swathed his face. "That's my knack. You know, my S-levels are barely above a hundred. I don't have super-strength or super speed or anything like that. What I can do, though, is evaluate. When I look at things with this eye, I can see every obstacle that might come up, everything I can turn to my advantage. I can filter through all the possible scenarios and pick the one most likely to pay off, and do it in the time it takes to blink. What I do with that knowledge is up to me."

Juudai took a moment to let this sink in. He shivered a little. Jim seemed like a nice guy, and he hoped they were going to be friends, but after hearing that description of his powers, Juudai wondered if Jim might be the most dangerous person on the island.

Jim grinned at him as if guessing what he was thinking.

"Don't worry," he said. He tapped the bandages again. "It doesn't work on what I can't see. Well, see you in class!"

He gave Juudai a jaunty salute and went loping off down the hall. Juudai watched him go for a minute before turning back to Shou.

"Let's never get on his bad side," he said. Shou nodded.

The two of them hurried off to class, Shou at a scramble and Juudai a few thoughtful paces behind. He was beginning to realize just how hard this superhero gig was going to be.

* * *

Edo Phoenix was not in the best mood he'd ever been in.

Practical battlefield strategy was not his favorite class of the day - not because he was bad at it, but because it was too easy for him. It was the only class he was expected to take with the underclassmen. Most classes at the academy were assigned depending on your power level and overall performance, rather than how many years you'd been attending, and Edo had every other class with the best of the best. It was only here, in the class that mattered most, that his teachers held him back. They told him that it was too dangerous for him to go head-to-head with the most powerful students in the school. It was a liability issue, they said. He'd get hurt, they said. And so he was still trapped, wasting his time fighting with people who weren't worth his while, all because other people had won the genetic lottery and he hadn't.

Until today.

"And they got second place!" he complained. "I have no clue how they did it!"

His companion nodded, radiating sympathy. _Literally_ radiating it. Among Saiou's many fine qualities, he was a projective telepath, and when he wanted you to know what he was feeling, you felt it.

It was working, too. Edo could actually feel his blood pressure subsiding under Saiou's influence. He turned to fix his friend with a look.

"You know, it annoys me when you do that," he said.

Classes were over for the day. Many of the students, free from the interference of teachers, had gone off to socialize with each other, taking advantage of the school's many potential entertainment features, which ranged from hot tubs to arenas for private one-on-one battles. Edo usually opted for the latter, when he could find someone who was willing to go up against him. Before school had started he'd been planning to spend his first full day back picking up some of the new blood and challenging them to see what they were made of. There was always a chance that even the most unskilled of them would have some talent he'd never seen before. Instead, he'd retreated to the Blue dorm as soon as he could, where he could sulk in private.

Or almost in private. There was one person in the world that Edo was always willing to have around. Now he paced Saiou's floor, venting his feelings to the man who sat in a shadowed corner.

Saiou merely regarded Edo with his usual inscrutable gaze. The two of them had been friends since childhood. Edo probably knew Saiou better than anyone else in the word who wasn't directly related to him, and there were still times when he found it hard to work out what was going on behind those piercing violet eyes.

"Your team came in fifth," Saiou remarked. Edo hadn't told him that, but it was no surprise that he knew. Saiou knew everything that went on at the academy, including a lot of things the teachers didn't know.

"We came in fifth," Edo agreed bitterly.

"You understand why, don't you?" Saiou asked, his tone gently chiding.

Edo glared at him. "No, I don't know why. Care to fill me in?"

"Two problems," said Saiou. "The first is that you abandoned your teammates the moment the exercise began. You prefer to work solo, and I understand that, but this Juudai's team organized a strategy ahead of time, planned which of them would carry their tokens to the goal, which of them would run interference, and which would attempt to take tokens from other players. They weighed all their individual strengths and plotted out how to use them to compensate for their teammates' weaknesses. You attempted to take the whole responsibility upon yourself, without availing yourself of your teammates' strength."

"I'm better than they are," Edo protested.

"Even so, it would be better to have what small help they can give you than to attempt to do everything with no help at all," said Saiou. "You should have learned by now that even the weak can be strong when they are amassed in great numbers and are organized properly."

"Fine. Duly noted," said Edo. He didn't really care for the advice, but he doubted that he was going to get very far by arguing about it. "So, what's the other thing?"

"The other matter is that you forgot what you were supposed to be doing," said Saiou.

"What?" Edo exclaimed. "I did not!"

"You did," said Saiou. "What you were supposed to be doing was playing the token-capturing game. What you were actually doing was looking for an avenue to demonstrate your superiority over that Juudai person. You made him your top priority, so your other objective naturally fell by the wayside."

Edo opened his mouth to argue, then shut it again. Saiou was right. He'd gone out onto the battlefield with one thing on his mind, and that had been to put Juudai in his place - to give him a vivid lesson in why Edo deserved to be there and Juudai didn't. Small wonder his team had only come in fifth. He sighed.

"You're right. I know you are," he said. "You know, a lesser man would be really tired by now of you always being right about everything."

That coaxed a small smile out of Saiou. "How fortunate for me that you are not a lesser man."

Edo did smile back at that. "So, tell me, all-knowing one, what should I be doing? Shed a little light on my situation."

"I have no specific advice at this time," said Saiou. "What exactly is it that you want advice on?"

"I want to know how to deal with this Juudai character," said Edo. "He's making me look bad."

"I see," said Saiou. "Well, I can't say that I see the urgency of the situation, but if it will make you happy, I will cogitate on the matter and see what reveals itself."

"Thanks," said Edo. He felt a bit better. He knew he could always rely on Saiou's advice. Even if he complained about it, he'd never known Saiou to be wrong about anything, and that was reassuring.

"Perhaps you should introduce me to this boy," said Saiou thoughtfully. "I might have a clearer idea what to do about him if I could read him from up close."

"I'll see if I can track him down for you," said Edo. "While you're at it, find out what he's _doing_ here. I couldn't get a straight answer out of him. To tell the truth, I don't think he knows."

Saiou smiled a little. "That, at least, should be easy."

Edo smiled back, feeling more relaxed now. "Thanks, Saiou. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Fate willing, you will never have to worry about that," said Saiou softly. He looked around his room, his expression distant. "After all, where would I go?"

* * *

"Man, I never knew being a superhero in training was going to involve so much homework," Juudai complained.

"What did you think it was going to be?" Hayato asked. "They don't let you do the fun stuff until you graduate."

"It _is_ called an academy," Shou pointed out gently.

The three of them were sitting around a picnic table outside their dorm, going through their daily assignments. Hayato had been hanging out with Juudai and Shou a lot lately. Apparently he'd never done so well at the token game in his entire school career, and felt kindly disposed towards the people who had helped him do it. Juudai hardly minded. It was nice to have more friends around, and Hayato was generally pretty good about helping with homework.

Which there was a lot of. Aside from having to write papers for their practical battlefield class, they were also having to learn the history of various important hero and villain teams, learn about common fighting tactics, and study the science behind the way a lot of common powers worked - all that _and_ a lot of the more normal school subjects. It wouldn't do for a hero to be completely ignorant of the ways of the world.

"I know," said Juudai. "I guess I just figured it would be more, you know, fun stuff. Flying lessons and target practice with laser pistols."

"You aren't allowed laser pistols until you've passed all your basic courses," said Hayato knowledgeably. "And flying lessons wouldn't do us any good. We'd just fall."

Shou looked longingly up at the clouds that were drifting through the sky above them. "Sure might be nice to fly, though."

"Maybe when we're big shot heroes, you can get your very own Super Shou-plane," Juudai suggested.

Shou made a face. "Even if I had one, I wouldn't call it that!"

The others laughed. Just then, a little gust of wind passed by, snatching up a few papers off the end of the table and sending them sailing across the lawn. Juudai gave a yelp and went chasing after them.

"Hey, come back here!" he shouted. The papers, naturally, didn't listen. They went pinwheeling across the grass to finally fetch up against someone's legs. Juudai, running bent double, realized almost too late that he was about to crash into someone and tried to stop himself. The other person calmly sidestepped him, and Juudai, surprised, toppled over and landed face-first in the grass. He sat up carefully, brushing bits of the lawn off his shirt.

"I caught my homework!" he exclaimed proudly, holding up the now crumpled and grass-stained sheet of paper.

"Clearly a heroic accomplishment," a faintly familiar voice drawled. "An epic victory in the never-ending struggle between man and notebook paper."

"Hey, this was harder than it looked!" Juudai protested.

Looking around, he found that the reason the voice sounded so familiar was that it belonged to Manjoume, who was now looming over him with a faint smirk on his face. Flanking him on either side were the two friends, Mototani and Torimaki, that he always sat with in class.

"Oh, it's you again," said Juudai. "What are you doing way over here? Isn't your dorm in the other direction?"

"We came to talk to you," said Mototani, smiling at him.

"Yeah, we really wanted to see you," Torimaki agreed.

"You did?" asked Juudai, puzzled. As far as he could tell, Manjoume and his pals avoided him and his friends wherever possible.

"We sure did," said Manjoume. "You really impressed us on the first day of school. I mean, who would have thought a team of guys who barely have any powers at all could have come in second place at the token game on their first try? I mean, you didn't even have any training yet and you still showed everybody."

"Aw, well," said Juudai, mildly flattered, "we just got lucky. If it hadn't been for Jim and Misawa, it would have been a lot harder."

"Oh, I'm sure you don't need them," said Torimaki. "Anybody can tell you've got real talent."

"That's why we came looking for you," said Mototani.

Manjoume nodded. "We want to propose a little challenge. How about we play capture the flag tonight? The three of us versus you and your two friends. We'll meet in the woods behind the Blue dorm just after lights-out."

"Isn't it against the rules to be out after dark?" Juudai asked.

"Well, sure, technically," said Torimaki, "but nobody really pays attention to that. The teachers don't care as long as you aren't, you know, shooting off fireworks or running someone's underwear up the flag pole."

Mototani nodded. "We've done this lots of times and no one has ever stopped us."

Juudai narrowed his eyes. "Are you sure you aren't up to something? Asuka warned me about you guys."

Manjoume spread his hands and looked innocent. "What could I be up to? We just want to play!"

"Hey, I know what his problem is!" Mototani piped up. "He's just scared to go into the woods after dark."

"Oh, yeah, the spooooky woods!" said Torimaki, waggling his fingers in a presumably spooky manner. "You know there are evil spirits out there, right?"

"Oh, come on, I'm not gonna fall for that," said Juudai.

"It's true, though," said Manjoume. "Haven't you heard of the Black dorm?"

"Yes?" said Juudai warily.

"There's a rumor going around that the students who built it were tired of being treated like second-string heroes, so they started practicing to be villains back there in the woods," said Manjoume. "That's the real reason they don't let us out at night. There's supposed to be a spot out there in the woods that's still saturated with dark energy. They say weird stuff is supposed to happen to people who get too close to it." He grinned. "But that's just a legend, so there's nothing to be afraid of. You _aren't_ afraid, are you?"

"No way!" said Juudai. "I'm not afraid of some stupid ghost story. I'll bet you made it up just to scare me."

"In that case, you shouldn't be scared to come out and play with us," said Manjoume. "Tonight, fifteen minutes after lights-out, behind the Blue dorm. Don't be late."

He and his friends turned and began to walk off. Juudai glared at their backs.

"I will be there!" he shouted. "You can count on it!"

"Oh, we are," said Manjoume.

Juudai was still staring at them when Shou and Hayato came up beside him.

"You okay?" Hayato asked, his round face worried.

Juudai looked down and realized he was gripping his wayward sheet of homework so hard he'd managed to crease it. He forced himself to relax.

"Manjoume and his flunkies challenged me to play capture the flag with them after dark," he said. "Well, challenged us, but you don't have to go. I mean, I'm pretty sure Manjoume is up to something."

Shou gave him a look over the rims of his glasses. "Manjoume's challenging you to a game of capture the flag, after dark, in the woods, and you only _think_ he's up to something."

Juudai grinned. "Well, anybody can have an off-day. Anyway, if I back down now I'll never hear the end of it, but I don't expect you to come with me."

"No way," said Hayato, folding his arms.

"That's what I thought," said Juudai, though he couldn't help but feel disappointed. "I'll let you know how it goes."

"No," said Hayato, "I mean, I'm not staying behind. I've been a loser ever since I got here. The only time I haven't come in dead last at everything was when I was working with you guys. I figure I owe it to you. But just this once!"

Juudai beamed. "Glad to have you aboard!"

Shou looked uncertain. "Well, I guess if you two are going... Okay, I'm going too!"

"You sure?" Juudai asked.

"Sure," said Shou, giving him a weak smile. "At least this will be something I know my brother never did."

Juudai laughed. "Awesome! Okay, if we're going to do this, let's get ready! We should probably have some flashlights, and some rope, and..."

"Shouldn't we finish our homework first?" Shou asked.

"Oh, yeah," said Juudai. "Okay, first we do that, and _then_ we get ready."

He looked at his friends and couldn't help but smile. Tonight was going to be more fun than he'd expected.


	4. Capture the Flag

During the day, Academy Island was a beautiful place. The beaches that surrounded it were golden and glistening, the waves a clear pure blue, and the plant life verdant. The temperature was so warm that flowers bloomed there for most of the year, filling the air with a scent that rivaled the briny tang of the ocean. Over it all, the volcano provided a dramatic backdrop, its rocky slopes contrasting starkly with the jungle around it, the plumes of white smoke hanging mysteriously in the air. When classes weren't in session, there were always people frolicking on the beach or playing frisbee on the grass. It was a paradise, during the day.

Juudai had never been out at night before. He had to admit, it was a different experience.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," Shou mumbled. He was walking so close to Juudai that his nose was practically against Juuda's backbone.

"We'll be fine. Just keep quiet," Juudai hissed back.

They continued easing their way across the campus through the shadows. Fortunately, there were a lot of shadows to choose from. Manjoume might have been just blowing hot air when it came to the reasons why the school didn't let its students out after dark, but the fact remained that there _was_ a fairly strict curfew in place. All students were expected to be safely inside their rooms by nine and the lights in their rooms had to be off by ten. At this time of night, the only light left anywhere was that of the moon and stars. Even that was dimmed tonight, as thin clouds drifted across the sky, making eerie shadows. Creatures stirred in the woods, hooting and calling to each other.

 _Boy,_ Juudai thought, _if Manjoume is talking people into coming out here after dark, it's no wonder he has a bad reputation. He wouldn't even have to do anything but make people walk around a little._

Gradually, he was able to discern the shape of the Blue dorm, looking like little more than a blue-gray shadow against the darker shadow of the forest. No one seemed to be moving. The pond in front of it twinkled faintly in the moonlight.

"All right, we're here!" said Juudai in an excited whisper. "Now we've just got to get around to the back..."

"There's a path over this way," said Hayato.

He led them through the trees and onto a little-used path, weedy and half hidden by leaves. It wound around the edge of the lake and spilled them out near a side door of the blue dorm.

"How'd you find this?" Shou asked Hayato.

Hayato shrugged. "You know, poking around. I spend a lot of time just trying to find quiet places to draw where no one will bother me. I mean, it's not very heroic just sitting around drawing, and I didn't want anyone to make fun of me..."

"People shouldn't make fun of you," said Juudai. "Your drawings are awesome. I wouldn't mind if I had a talent like that."

The three of them picked their way around to the back of the building. The moonlight, thin as it was, had a hard time reaching back there, and after stumbling around for a while, they had no choice but to turn on their flashlights. They could only hope that no teachers decided to look out their window and see them creeping around where they weren't supposed to be. Thankfully, the grass around the dorm was smooth and well-maintained, and even in the dark it was easy enough to cross.

Somewhere in the shadows, Juudai heard someone hiss, "Hey, I think I see them!"

Juudai raised his flashlight and was able to see Mototani standing lookout next to a clump of ornamental juniper bushes. The little group picked up their pace and hurried over to where Manjoume and his companions were lurking. Manjoume grinned as he saw them.

"See?" he said to Torimaki. "I told you they'd come. You owe me a dessert voucher."

"Of course we showed up," said Juudai. "We're not afraid of you!"

"Shh! Not so loud!" Mototani whispered. "We've gotta get into the woods before anyone sees us. Come on! The playing field is this way."

He turned and started into the forest, and Manjoume and Torimaki fell into step with him, moving in an easy formation that spoke of years of long practice. Juudai felt his friends close ranks on either side of him and hoped they made as good a show. It occurred to him that he had absolutely no idea what Torimaki and Mototani's talents were. It was, he thought, just possible that this was going to be a little more exciting than he had bargained for.

At first, they didn't seem to be going anywhere in particular. They crunched through brush and dead leaves, stumbling over roots and pushing aside the occasional trailing vine or swathe of moss. After they'd gone a few hundred yards, though, they suddenly struck a track. It wasn't much - just a place where the brush seemed to have been cleared away and a few stones set along the edges to mark the borders, but it was definitely a path made by human hands. Once they reached it, they picked up the pace. The path curved and zigzagged, but Juudai had the impression that they were going deeper into the woods, curving slightly around the volcano and heading towards the uninhabited side of the island.

"All right, we're here," said Manjoume at last, and Juudai hurried forward to see where they had arrived.

They had come to a place where the trees had thinned out, and a sparse covering of grass replaced the underbrush and fallen leaves. The tree trunks seemed thinner, too, their branches less dense, the leaves smaller and somehow more fragile. A ring of tree stumps and fallen logs lay haphazardly in the center of the area, encircling something that might have once been a campfire. Now the fire was nothing more than a ring of mossy stones around a scorched patch of earth, and the logs were covered in pale shelf fungus. The thin moonlight filled the area with a diffuse light that seemed to pulse slightly as the clouds scudded overhead. Something about the place gave Juudai an uneasy feeling. Even if all that stuff about the Black dorm was just an urban legend, he was still willing to bet that _something_ bad had happened here once.

"I just remembered," Hayato blurted, "I didn't finish my homework. I think I'll just..."

"Oh, no you don't," said Torimaki, catching him by the hem of his coat. "You're not going anywhere."

"Not until we're finished," said Mototani.

Manjoume ambled into the center of the clearing, stopping just a few feet shy of the campfire circle. From within his pockets, he took out two handkerchiefs, one red, one blue.

"Here are the rules," he said. "Each team will take a flag and start walking into the woods. When I give the signal, we each come looking for each other. The flags have to be carried by somebody at all times - you can't just tie them to a tree and leave them there. The winning team is the one who grabs the other team's flag and tosses it into this ring here."

"What do we get for winning?" Shou asked.

Everyone turned to look at him. He flushed a little but managed to look defiant.

"Well, we're going through a lot of trouble to come out here at night and play your stupid game," he said. "We won't even get bragging rights if we win because nobody is out here to see us and we can't tell anybody we were out after curfew. What's in it for us if we win?"

Manjoume and his friends looked taken aback. Apparently they hadn't come prepared for this question.

"What do you want?" Manjoume asked guardedly.

Shou folded his arms. "What have you got?"

The three boys held a whispered consultation. At length, Torimaki stepped forward.

"We'll give you some vouchers for the snack bar," he said, "and for the hot springs. Sound good?"

Juudai looked to Shou and Hayato for approval. Hayato shrugged. Shou offered, "I've never tried the hot springs. I hear it's nice, though."

That sounded fair to Juudai. "Okay, I guess we're in agreement. Let's get started!"

Manjoume grinned. "Good. Here's your red flag. Here's our blue flag." He tossed one of the handkerchiefs to Torimaki. "Now, start walking and watch for my signal."

"What kind of signal are we looking for, exactly?" Juudai asked.

"Oh, you'll know it when you see it," said Manjoume carelessly. "Come on, guys. You know what to do."

The three Blue students turned and began sauntering into the shadows. Juudai took a breath.

"Okay, guys," he said. "Let's do this."

They turned and began walking. The forest became darker the further they walked, and yet somehow Juudai felt better the further they got from that odd moonlit place. He toyed with the idea of just snagging Manjoume's blue flag and taking it home to pin over his door, rather than going back to that creepy place.

"Okay, guys," he said. "How are we going to do this?"

"Go home and pretend it never happened?" Hayato suggested, without much hope.

"No way," said Juudai. "You can't bail on us now. We need you. You're the only one here with working powers."

"Yeah, I guess I'm not going to do you much good," said Shou, a bit sadly.

"No, we need you too," said Juudai. "You've got the inside scoop on everyone, right? Have you heard or seen anything about what those other two guys can do?"

Shou looked surprised, then thoughtful. "Hmm... I'm pretty sure Torimaki does illusions. I'm not sure about the other one. I think he does portals."

"Huh," said Juudai thoughtfully. "Well, that doesn't sound so dangerous."

"You think?" asked Shou. "I'm not so sure..."

"Aw, it'll be fine," said Juudai. "It sounds like Manjoume's the only one who has any sort of dangerous talent, so we just have to keep clear of him! It won't be hard."

"But what if we have to, to get the flag?" Shou asked.

"He gave it to Torimaki," Juudai pointed out reasonably. "Look, we can do this. We just need a plan."

"Have you got a plan?" Hayato asked.

"Well," said Juudai, "I might have an idea or two..."

* * *

Lightning arced across the sky. Manjoume smiled, enjoying the effect. That was one of the little perks of these nighttime games - his lightning flashes were so much more impressive after dark.

"Think they saw that?" he asked his companions.

"Not your fault if they don't," said Mototani. "If they aren't paying attention, they deserve to lose."

"They deserve to lose anyway," said Torimaki with a superior sniff.

"You got that right," said Manjoume. "You guys know what to do, right?"

His friends nodded and slipped off into the dark. Manjoume grinned. This, he thought, was going to be too easy. There was almost no sport to it. He'd been going over the recordings of that first medal game, and he'd worked out that most of the heavy lifting had been done by Misawa, with his matter-manipulation gift, and Jim, with his supernatural planning ability. Without the two of them, the other three would be sitting ducks.

Then again, that was the point. The last thing he wanted was for three low-wattage goofballs to start getting the idea that they were as good as the real heroes. No, they needed to learn their place, before they started thinking they had a right to being anything other than sidekicks, if they were even good enough for that.

 _Especially that Juudai._ He really was a disgrace. Manjoume knew his history of heroism as well as any student, and he knew that Clause 214 was meant to be used for people who didn't have superpowers but were still skilled in a way that placed them above and beyond the common rabble - people like Edo Phoenix, for example. There was a guy that even Manjoume would think twice about tangling with one-on-one. But this Juudai clown was something else again. Manjoume was willing to bet that even if he just snatched a random person off the street and pitted them against Juudai, it would be Juudai who would come off the loser. There was no way he could have kept pace with someone with even marginal powers, much less someone like Manjoume. The sooner he learned his lesson, the sooner he'd leave and stop taking up valuable resources.

 _There's no room in this world for someone who doesn't pull his own weight._ That was what Manjoume's brothers had been telling him, ever since he was very small. Manjoume came from a family of achievers. His parents, before they died, had been movers and shakers in the world - his father a wealthy banker, his mother a noted socialite. When they had died in a plane crash, his brothers had immediately leapt into action, with one taking over their father's bank, and the other using their family money and their mother's connections to break into politics. And Manjoume...

Well, he hadn't done much of anything for the first few years of his life. He'd watched his big brothers becoming increasingly more important and wealthy and famous while he had continued to show no particular talent for anything. He'd done middling well in school but had never been outstanding at any specific subject. He'd been tolerable at sports but hardly the type who got picked first for anything. He had a knack for motivating people and bringing them around to his side, but he had little interest in politics, and anyway his brother wouldn't tolerate the competition. The thought of ending up as a hanger-on in Chosaku's retinue or a clerk in one of Shoji's banks, enduring the quiet disappointment of his family for the rest of his life, had made him want to scream and tear his hair out. Then, on his eleventh birthday, he'd reached for one of his presents and sparks had leapt from his fingers and caused whatever was inside to burst into fragments. He'd never cared what the ruined gift had actually been. The discovery that he had a power of his own had been more than enough.

After that, everything had changed. His family had really respected him. They'd encouraged him, given him everything he needed to hone his new gift. He was _important_ , now. He knew full well what they planned for him: while they were on their way up to the top, he would be their protector. When Chosaku inevitably realized his dreams of reaching the top of the political heap, Manjoume Thunder would become the country's national hero. When that happened, Manjoume Jun was planning to be ready for it.

And that meant he wasn't going to allow some nobody to make him look bad on his way up. Watching Chosaku in action had taught Manjoume that reputation was everything. What you did didn't matter as much as what people _thought_ you did. Even if Manjoume got caught tonight, he had a reputation here at the school already - the teachers thought highly of him. They would willingly believe anything he said if it put these low-level newcomers in a bad light.

Mototani stepped out of one of his portals.

"I've got a fix on them," he said. "We're ready to move when you are."

Manjoume smiled slowly. "Let's get them, then."

He let Mototani take him by the arm and haul him through the portal to step out a short distance from the campfire clearing. Manjoume noted that a thin mist seemed to have blown in from somewhere. That was odd; the air had been clear a few minutes ago. Still, the weather did funny things on this island, with so many people shooting off so many kinds of power on a daily basis. One of the reasons the school stood on an island in the middle of nowhere was that the presence of natural features like oceans and volcanos seemed to have a stabilizing effect on any loose power floating around. Manjoume wasn't sure of the exact mechanics behind it, only that certain types of powers tended to "drown" in large bodies of water while others were absorbed by the earth or "burned" by the heat of the volcano. As an added bonus, the energy it took to constantly burn off all that stray power helped keep the volcano stable and prevented it from doing more than occasionally belching a bit of smoke. The downside was that the weather tended to be a little unpredictable, producing the occasional snowstorm in July or heat wave in December. And fog where no fog should be, apparently.

"Keep a sharp eye out," Manjoume cautioned. "They know they can't face us head on, so they're probably going to try to be sneaky."

The others nodded.

"I heard them over that way," said Torimaki. As their illusionist, he made the perfect scout - all but invisible unless you knew what you were looking for.

Manjoume nodded. "Fine. Let's get started. And don't take them out too fast. I want to be sure they get the point."

His friends nodded and scattered, and Manjoume settled back against a tree to wait for them. They'd done this plenty of times by now, and they knew what to do. Mototani would take the flag and portal to a safe distance where he could keep an eye on the situation and withdraw either of his friends if they got into a jam. Torimaki, with his illusions, would lead their pursuers on a wild goose chase, dragging them through thorn bushes, mud puddles, and patches of spiderwebs as they tried to catch up to something that wasn't there. Once they were tired, frustrated, and too flustered to pay attention to where they were going, he'd lead them back to Manjoume, who would stun them senseless and take the flag at his leisure. After that, depending on how merciful he was feeling, he'd either lead them back to the main campus in disgrace, or, if he was feeling really vindictive, just walk off and leave them. After all, it wasn't like it was a very large island. You could find your way anywhere just by keeping the volcano at your back, walking until you found either the beach or the river, and then walking some more until you found something familiar. Even if you had no sense of direction and only wandered randomly, the island was small enough that you were bound to find something eventually.

And if you wandered in circles and couldn't find anything at all, well, the island had a couple hundred or so heroes-in-training. One of them was bound to find you.

The fog grew thicker as Manjoume waited. He shivered a little. It was getting colder, though on the island even nights tended to be warm. Had someone been fooling around with the weather again? He knew of at least one person in school who could do that, but why he'd do it out here in the middle of the night...

A rustling off to one side threw off his train of thought, and he turned to see Shou run by. He ran by several times, from multiple directions, and Manjoume gawped at them as they dashed past.

"What...? How did...?" he blurted.

A moment later, Torimaki came running after one of the copies, looking frazzled.

"He keeps getting away!" he complained.

A moment later, Mototani appeared out of one of his portals.

"Did you see which way they went? I keep losing them!" he complained.

Manjoume slapped his forehead.

"You idiots!" he said. "Can't I count on you for anything? Did you forget about the big guy who looks like a koala? The one who makes _drawings come to life?_ "

"What do you...?" Torimaki began.

Manjoume fired off a lightning bolt at one of the Shou-copies as it ran past. When the bolt struck, there was a sizzle, and the image vanished with a faint smell of smoke. While the other two boys stared, Manjoume walked across the grass to pick up the smouldering skeleton of a leaf.

"He creates illusions by drawing on things," Manjoume growled, crushing the remains of the leaf in his hand. "He's been sending decoys all over this forest, and you, my expert in illusions, have been _chasing them_."

"I thought they didn't have any powers!" Torimaki wailed.

"Dammit, I said _two_ of them didn't have powers!" Manjoume snapped. "Now we're going to have to figure out where the real ones are."

"They can't have gone too far," said Mototani placatingly. "We just have to look around for them."

"This is ridiculous," Manjoume muttered. "Okay, stay close and don't panic. They're around here somewhere, and they're going to come to us eventually to try to get the flag."

"Want me to scout around for them?" Torimaki offered.

"No. You've already screwed up enough for tonight," said Manjoume. "Mototani, portal around the area. See if you can flush them out - scare them over that way." He waved a hand off to one side. "Whatever you do, don't let them get near the campfire circle."

"On it," said Mototani, and vanished.

"What are you planning?" Torimaki asked.

"If they want to play tricks on us, we'll play tricks on them," said Manjoume. "Hide the campfire ring, and make another one a few feet away."

"What good will that do?" Torimaki asked.

"Ah, that's the brilliant part," said Manjoume. "After you've set up the illusion, let them catch the flag. Once they have both of them, switch the colors when they aren't looking. They'll throw their flag into the other circle, and then Mototani will portal in, grab it, and drop it in the real circle. They'll do all the work and we'll win anyway."

Torimaki lit up. "That's brilliant! I'll get right on it."

He faded into the shadows. A moment later, Manjoume was pleased to see the campfire circle vanish from sight. Manjoume settled back against his tree again, satisfied that disaster had been averted. Sometimes, he thought, it was really hard being the one who came up with all the bright ideas.

He waited. The fog was getting heavier, he noted. That was no good. If this kept up, they wouldn't even be able to _see_ Torimaki's illusions. He looked irritably up at the sky. Not only had the fog rolled in, but the cloud cover seemed to have thickened. He could barely see the moon anymore, and it was getting too dark to see. He wondered if he risked making a few sparks to improve his visibility. His lightning was good for making short bursts of light, but sustained illumination took a lot more concentration than he wanted to put out just then. He also didn't really want Juudai and his lackeys to see him, either. Then again, if there was no light, Torimaki and Mototani wouldn't be able to find him, and that would put a wrench in their plans.

 _This is ridiculous. If it gets any darker, I'm going to have to call the whole thing off. We'll be lucky to find the path back home, at this rate._

He took out his PDA to check the time. How long had it been since he'd sent his friends away? Five minutes? More? They should have been back by now. He should have at least heard _something_. Now he strained his ears, trying to make out any sounds of someone moving. The woods seemed ominously silent. When they'd walked out here, the air had been full of the sounds of calling birds and little rustling creatures. Now all he could hear was the distant sigh of the ocean. Not a leaf stirred. A chill began creeping over him that had nothing to do with the fog or the night. He'd never believed the rumors about this place. He'd always assumed that it was nothing more than a rumor, started by a few students who were tired of being overshadowed by the best and brightest and wanted a place where they could vent their frustrations away from the disapproving ears of teachers and their scornful fellow students. All that other stuff was just a bunch of superstition.

Wasn't it?"

"Guys?" he called into the darkness. "Mototani? Torimaki? Are you there?"

Nothing. Not even the crack of a twig. Manjoume's mouth felt dry. He turned around in a slow circle, straining his eyes for any sign of movement. All he could see was fog. And now he was realizing that he couldn't see the path home anymore. There was nothing to see but fog and the vague gray outlines of trees. Suddenly all his reassuring thoughts about how no one could possibly get lost on the island didn't seem so comforting.

"Hey, guys?" he called, a little more loudly. "You can come out now! We're going home! The game is off! I mean, we can't exactly play like this when we can't see our hands in front of our faces. Guys...?"

There was a crackling in the brush behind him. Manjoume heaved a sigh of relief, feeling his worries fall away. What was wrong with him, getting all paranoid just because of a little fog? He turned around to face his friends.

"Where have you guys been? You took forever to... Oh," he said.

Standing behind him were Juudai and his friends, looking as surprised to see him as he was to see them.

"Manjoume?" said Juudai. "Is that you? It's hard to see through this fog..."

Manjoume glared at them. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I've been asking myself the same thing all night," said Hayato morosely.

"Why are you asking us?" muttered Shou. "This was _your_ crazy idea."

Manjome sighed. Terrific. He wanted to find his backup and instead he found a bunch of people who wanted to insult him. As if this was all _his_ fault!

"Have any of you guys seen Torimaki and Mototani?" he asked.

"Not for a while," said Juudai. "I mean, they were chasing us a while ago, but we gave them the slip and we haven't seen them since. Aren't they here with you?"

"No," Manjoume grumbled. "They must have gotten themselves lost in the fog."

"Maybe they're just hiding somewhere?" Hayato suggested. "I mean, one of them throws illusions, right?"

Manjoume crossed his arms and gave Hayato a glare. "And why would they be hiding from me?"

"Good question," Hayato admitted. "Um. Do you think we had better look for them?"

"What's this _we_ stuff?" Manjoume retorted. "They're my guys, I'll find them. I don't need _your_ help. What are you going to do for me, draw me a map?"

Hayato flushed, and Juudai glared.

"Hey, that was low," he objected. "We can help! At least with us around, you won't be wandering around alone in all of this." He waved a hand at the swirling fog.

Manjoume glared at him. Now that Juudai and the others were here, Manjoume could tell himself rationally that the fog was just fog, nothing creepy about it at all. Well, there was the way it seemed to be glowing very faintly, but that was just the way it refracted the moonlight, nothing more.

"I don't need any help," he snapped. "Look, the game is off. I'm taking my team and going home. If you clowns want to wander around in the fog, that's your business."

With that, he turned and began stomping deeper into the forest. Dimly, he could hear Juudai calling after him, but the dense fog seemed to be muffling his voice, and he could only partially make out the words. He wasn't listening anyway. If he couldn't play their game of Capture the Flag any longer, the least he could do was prove he could find his friends without help. He trudged off in a random direction without thinking very hard about it, or even looking where he was going. The fog wrapped around him as he walked, blotting everything out, until he felt he was pushing his way through a mass of cotton batting.

He was just beginning to wonder if perhaps he'd been just a bit hasty, when his foot hit a stump and he went sprawling. He pushed himself back upright, swearing vociferously, and paused to squint down at the ground in an effort to see what he'd stumbled over. Somewhat to his surprise, he realized that it was one of the stumps that made up the campfire circle. The fog was finally clearing, and he could see the scaly ridges of shelf fungus growing on them, and the ring of pale stones that made up the fire circle itself. He could even make out a few partially-burned logs at the center, though it was hard to imagine how they'd stayed in that condition for so long. It looked as if the fire had been lit only hours ago instead of years.

"Huh," he said aloud. "How'd this get way over here? I thought it was back there somewhere..."

Then he stopped. The forest, which had until then been unnaturally silent, now held a sound - a single low noise that insinuated itself around Manjoume the way the fog did, a sound darker and more threatening than the shadows.

Someone was laughing.

"Hey!" Manjoume shouted. "Who's there? Show yourself!"

The laughter faded out. Manjoume spun in place, trying to get a fix on it before it vanished altogether. He could see nothing but fog. Strangely, none of it seemed to want to come within the circle of logs. Manjoume stood at the edge of a clear space surrounded by a thick wall of fog. His unease returned, more strongly now, and as was usual for him, fear translated into anger.

"Quit playing games!" he shouted. "I'm warning you...!" In his agitation, sparks had begun crackling across his fingers.

The laughter came again. "I thought playing games was why we were here. Weren't you playing Capture the Flag? I thought I would join in."

"You weren't invited," said Manjoume, "so go mind your own business."

"You have no idea what my business is," said the voice. "But I know what yours is. You're here looking for your friends, Mototani and Torimaki. Do you want them back?"

"What have you done with them?" Manjoume shouted.

"Nothing much," said the voice. "Just... put them somewhere."

"Well, put them _back!_ "

"Come and get them."

The fireplace stones began to shake. One by one, they began to roll out of their places. The logs uprooted themselves and tumbled aside. Manjoume stared as the stones began arranging themselves into a path, leading off into darkness.

"What the hell?" he exclaimed.

"What's wrong?" the voice crooned. "Are you afraid of me, Manjoume Jun?"

Something about the way the voice spoke his name unsettled him. It shouldn't have been a surprise. Most of the school knew who he was. His brothers were famous. But hearing his own name didn't usually fill his mind with sudden images of every time in his life he'd ever felt worthless, every time he'd been ashamed, everything he'd ever been afraid of. It was as if hearing this voice speak his name had made him realize that those were the only parts of him that were real, as if "Manjoume Jun" were nothing more a bundle of fears and doubts, and everything he'd ever been proud of about himself had been an illusion. He gritted his teeth.

"I'm not afraid of you! I'm not afraid of anything!" he shouted.

"Then prove it," said the voice.

Manjoume nodded. He took a breath of air that smelled of dampness and old smoke, and he stepped down the path and into the dark.

* * *

"Do you really think we should have let him go alone?" Shou asked nervously.

"He'll be fine. He's a tough guy," said Juudai.

He and his friends were trying, without much success, to find the path back to their dorm. The fog seemed to be thinning a bit, but the three of them were unfamiliar with the area, and without Manjoume to show them the way, they were having a hard time getting their bearings. So far, they'd managed to blunder into the same patch of thorns three times without ever striking the trail. To make matters worse, their flashlights were misbehaving. Every so often, they went dark without warning, then flickered back on again by themselves. Juudai wasn't sure that having no flashlights at all wouldn't have been better. It was a little startling to be wandering around in near-total darkness to suddenly have a tree flare into view in front of him.

"He wouldn't have helped us," said Hayato firmly. "Anyway, how are we going to help? We're more lost than he is."

"This was a bad idea," said Shou, summing up everyone's feelings succinctly.

"Well, yeah," said Juudai, unrepentant, "but don't you think..."

Before he could finish speaking, there was a scream. Everyone stopped and turned towards it. It tore through the night, the sound of a person in more fear than they could stand. Juudai's eyes widened.

"Than was Manjoume!" he exclaimed.

Without pausing to consult with his friends, he turned and plunged back into the forest. A moment later, he heard them crashing along after him.

"Where are you going?" Shou wailed. "We should be running away!"

"Manjoume's in trouble," Juudai said. "We have to help him!"

"But he's way stronger than we are!" Shou said. "What are we supposed to do to help him? We need to go back to the school. We can get a teacher. They can..."

"Do you know how to get back to the school?" Juudai asked.

"Uh... no?" Shou admitted.

"Do you know how to find your way back here once you've made it to the school?" Juudai persisted, still pushing his way through the underbrush.

"No," said Shou.

"Do you think we could actually manage to explain to a teacher what we were doing out here without getting into trouble?"

Shou sighed. "Probably not."

"Right," said Juudai. "Then it's up to us."

There was a contemplative silence, broken only by the sound of people pushing their way through the forest.

"I still think this is a bad idea," said Shou, but he didn't turn back.

Juudai continued pushing his way through the fog and undergrowth. Somewhat to his surprise, the fog seemed to grow lighter the further he went, and the brush and brambles thinned out, until he was running unimpeded through the forest with his friends behind him.

 _Something's not right here._ Every nerve screamed that he was running his friends into a trap, but he couldn't imagine making any other choice. After a few more seconds of blundering half-blind through the forest, he found himself back in the campfire ring. There was a boy in a long dark jacket standing there with his back to them. Juudai skidded to a halt.

"Manjoume!" he exclaimed. "Are you okay? What happened? Are you...?"

The boy turned around. He was not Manjoume. He was taller than Manjoume, with paler eyes and paler hair that fell in feathery locks around his face.

"Hello, Juudai," he said. "So nice to finally meet you face to face."

"It's you again!" Juudai exclaimed. "I saw you on the ship!"

"I always make it a point to make that journey," said the shadow-boy casually. "And I'm glad I did, or I might not have noticed you."

"What's so special about me?" Juudai asked. "I didn't do anything."

The boy laughed, softly. There was something about that laugh that Juudai didn't like. Laughter should be happy, but this laugh was full of pain and longing and pent-up grudges, and it dawned on him that whoever this boy was, he might not be altogether sane.

On a sudden inspiration, Juudai asked, "Are you one of them? One of the students from the Black dorm?"

"That's the wrong question," the boy replied. "You should be asking who _you_ are."

Yes, Juudai thought, there was definitely something a little off about this guy.

"I know who I am," said Juudai patiently. "I'm the same guy I've been all my life."

The boy shook his head. "So innocent. You'll learn. I could teach you."

"Look, guy," said Juudai, "I don't know what it is you're selling, but I know I don't want any. Now, tell me what you did to Manjoume!"

The boy only smiled. "Nothing. He's just having a nap. A long nap. He's probably happier that way. He was such an unhappy person, you know."

"Well, I'm pretty unhappy now, too!" Juudai said.

"Yes," said the boy. "Everyone is unhappy. I'm glad you understand."

"I don't understand any of this," said Juudai. "All I know is, I want you to give Manjoume back, and his friends too if you've got them. If you don't, I'll..."

He trailed off. He'd started that sentence without thinking about how he'd finish it. The shadow-boy laughed again.

"You won't do anything to me," he said. "You just admitted that you don't know who you are. You can't stop me from doing anything until you've worked that out."

"Yeah, well, we'll see about that!" said Juudai. He took a step forward. "Now, give Manjoume back, or if there's something I can do, well, I'll find a way to do it!"

"Let's see you try, then," said the shadow boy.

He flung his hands out. Just like that, the lights went out. Juudai had never seen anything so dark as this darkness. It blotted out the sky, the trees, the other boys, the earth beneath his feet. The darkness seemed to be getting under his eyelids, into his mind, making it impossible to remember anything bright or happy. He could feel the shadows choking him, making his head spin, and with the dizziness came a sense of malaise. The dark boy had been right - there was nothing he could do about this. He had no power to stop anything. Juudai didn't even have a clue what was going on. How could he ever hope to stand up to this sort of power? It would be so much better to submit, to just give in. He could sink down into this deep peaceful darkness and forget everything else...

 _Wait, this feels familiar..._

A memory floated up through the darkness, of a dark-haired girl peeking down at him from a tyrannosaur's snout, telling him sweetly that he'd be so much happier if he gave all his tokens to her. She had been using some sort of mind control on him. This felt exactly the same way. Someone really wanted him to give up and stop fighting. They wouldn't do that unless they were afraid of what he'd do if he _did_ fight back. Dark as it was, he closed his eyes and concentrated with all his might.

 _There isn't any darkness. There isn't any fog. If I open my eyes, it will all be gone. None of it is real._

He opened his eyes and surveyed the power of positive thinking.

The darkness was gone. That was good. The fog was still there, now, thinner but still occluding everything more than a few feet away. He could actually see it writhing around, trying to coalesce back into solid shadows again. Wisps of it clustered around the boy who'd summoned them like frightened children clinging to their parent. He glared at Juudai, his expression one of frustration and pain and... surprise? Yes, definitely! He hadn't expected Juudai to throw off his influence so easily. Emboldened, Juudai took a few steps forward. His toes brushed the circle of stones where the fire pit was. The shadow boy took a step backwards.

"You're stronger than I thought," he said. "Stronger than you're admitting."

"I want Manjoume and the others back," Juudai insisted. "Give them to me, and then get out of here. We don't want you. Get lost."

The shadow boy gave a cry, as if Juudai had stabbed him. Juudai clapped his hands over his ears and shut his eyes as the wailing washed over him. He felt heat on his face, and it took him a moment in his mind-blasted state to realize that tears were spilling from his eyes. He shouldn't have been crying, but with that scream ringing in his ears, all he could think about was how much _pain_ this boy was in. It didn't seem possible for one person to be hurting so much, as if every hurt that anyone had ever forgotten and moved past had come to dwell with him. Juudai screamed, trying to drown out the sound. He screamed until he ran out of air, then took a breath and screamed again.

When he drew in a breath for the second time, he stopped and held it. The forest was silent. He opened his eyes cautiously. The shadow boy was gone, and he'd taken his fog with him. The moon shone softly down on the fireplace clearing. The only sign that anything had ever been wrong were the three dazed-looking boys crouching on the ground around the perimeter of the circle.

"Manjoume!" Juudai exclaimed.

He rushed over to Manjoume's side and knelt down next to him to help him to his feet. He didn't seem to be harmed, but he was glassy-eyed, his face nearly gray in the moonlight. When Juudai touched him, he could feel him shivering, and his clothes were clammy and drenched with sweat.

"Are you okay? What happened?" Juudai asked.

"Get off me," Manjoume snapped, pushing Juudai's hand.

Juudai reeled backwards. "Geez, sorry, I was just trying to help!"

"Well, I don't need your help!" Manjoume shot back. His voice was high-pitched and brittle. Juudai had the feeling that it would take very little to start him crying. Juudai backed off a little more.

"It's okay," he said placatingly. "That guy's gone. You're okay..."

Behind him, he could hear Shou and Hayato moving hesitantly closer.

"What _happened?_ " Shou asked breathlessly.

"I dunno," said Juudai, shaking his head. "I was hoping you guys would."

Hayato shook his head. "I didn't see a thing. You stepped into the circle and everything went black, and then we heard you scream and it went light again."

Juudai blinked at him. "You mean you didn't see the guy?"

"What guy?" asked Shou.

"There was a guy," Juudai insisted. "He was dressed all in black and he was really freakin' creepy. Are you sure you didn't at least hear him? He was right there!"

"I didn't hear anyone but you," said Hayato.

"Who the hell cares?" Manjoume snapped. He got to his feet and brushed himself off with hands that were still visibly shaking. "I have no idea what kind of game you people are trying to play, but I'm not letting you get away with it. You haven't heard the last of this!"

He pushed past Juudai and his friends, making a beeline for the path home. His two friends chased wordlessly after him as if their lives depended on getting as far from that place as possible as fast as they could. Juudai shrugged and began jogging after them.

 _That was so weird,_ he thought. He still felt shaken, though not as badly as Manjoume and his friends obviously were. Had they been caught in that fathomless dark place and unable to escape? It had been almost enough to crush him, only being in there for a few seconds. How must they feel if they'd been submerged there the whole time they'd been missing? The thought of it made Juudai feel a little sick.

 _At least I got them out._ With any luck, tomorrow they'd think they just had a bad dream. At the same time, he felt a little disgruntled. It hadn't exactly been fun rescuing those guys, and they hadn't even thanked him for it! A little appreciation would have been nice.

And underneath those thoughts was one more pressing and unsettling thought: who had that boy been, and what was he trying to do? How had he known who Juudai was? And most importantly, what in the world had he been talking about? He obviously knew, or thought he knew, something about Juudai that Juudai didn't. Unless, of course, he was so totally disconnected from reality that he'd started imagining things...

Juudai shook his head. He couldn't guess what was going on here. He just didn't know enough.

And if getting close to that shadow boy was going to make him feel like this, he wasn't sure that he _wanted_ to.


	5. Choose Your Team

"Hey, Juudai, wake up!"

"Hunh?"

Someone poked Juudai sharply in the back of his head. "Come on, wake up!"

Juudai rolled over and pulled the blankets over his face. "Go 'way. It's Saturday. Not gonna wake up."

"Don't you want to play in the snow?"

Juudai slowly considered this idea. He usually liked snow. There was a lot you could do with it. The fact that it had happened on a Saturday seemed like a bit of a waste, but...

Juudai pushed the blankets aside and sat up to stare at Shou, who had already pulled on a coat and mittens.

"Aren't we on a tropical island?" Juudai asked. "With, you know, palm trees and coconuts and stuff?"

"Well, yeah," said Shou, "but look."

He waved at the window. Juudai looked. What had been a smooth stretch of grass yesterday was now, apparently, about a foot and a half deep in snow. The tropical sun glittered brightly off of it. Quite a lot of people were already frolicking in it, building snowmen and sledding and having snowball fights. They looked like they were having a wonderful time.

"Why is there snow?" asked Juudai, with early-morning grogginess.

Shou shrugged. "One of the senior students made it for us. He says it's a welcoming gift for the new people. That's us!"

"Oh," said Juudai. He grinned slowly as the idea sank in. "Well, I'm not going to pass up a gift! Just gimme a minute to get dressed, would ya?"

He bounded out of bed and began changing into the warmest clothes he could find. For once in his life, he was actually grateful to his mom for insisting on packing sweaters and a warm coat for him no matter where he went, even that time he'd gone to visit an uncle in Okinawa in the middle of summer. Now he jammed a hat down over his uncombed hair and followed Shou out into the misplaced winter wonderland.

And immediately ducked as a snowball whizzed over his head.

"Whoa!" he yelped.

The snowball smacked into the side of the Red Dorm and burst in a spray of powder. Juudai laughed as cold flakes spattered the back of his neck.

"Sorry! Couldn't resist," said a cheerful voice.

He looked up from brushing snow off of his clothes to see Asuka Tenjoin standing before him in a well-worn snow parka. Obviously she had known something like this was coming.

"Oh, hey! It's been a while," said Juudai, bounding through the snow to meet her. "What's up?"

"Just keeping an eye on my brother to make sure he doesn't do anything _too_ ridiculous," she said. "This is one of his annual start-of-school traditions, and he's always trying to outdo himself."

She waved her hand in the direction of a boy Juudai remembered from their practical battlefield tactics class - the shaggy-haired surfer boy who seemed to control ice and water. He was just now apparently in the process of building a number of piles of snow, under the close supervision of a lot of female students. Juudai and Shou watched the performance, Juudai with puzzlement and Shou with an expression of faint envy.

"Is that one of his talents?" Juudai asked. "I mean... charming girls?"

Asuka gave a faint sigh. "No. He comes by that naturally." She cupped her gloved hands around her mouth. "Fubuki! Come here a minute! I want you to say hello to somebody."

The boy, Fubuki, waved to her. He said something to his crowd of female admirers that made them giggle and squeal, and then went bounding through the snow to his sister's side. Juudai noticed with some interest that he was walking along the surface of the snow without leaving so much as a footprint.

"You called?" he asked, flashing a grin. Asuka gave him a tolerant smile. Juudai could see that the two of them cared about each other very much. He also got the impression that Fubuki probably drove his sister nuts more often than not.

"I wanted you to meet a couple of friends of mine," said Asuka. "Fubuki, this is Marufuji Shou- Ryou's brother, you know..."

"Oh, hi!" Fubuki exclaimed. "Hey, I've heard a lot about you. Well, some. I mean, your brother's talked about you sometimes."

"Gee, thanks," said Shou, grimacing a little.

"And this is Yuuki Juudai," Asuka continued, waving one hand towards him. "You've heard of him, right?"

"Sure, I know who he is," said Fubuki. He looked at Juudai. "You're the other one who got in under Clause 214, right?"

Juudai was beginning to think that he was going to get tired of hearing about that stupid clause before long. He nodded anyway.

"That's me," he agreed. "Nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you, too," said Fubuki, smiling. "Any friend of my sweet little sister is a friend of mine! Don't you think she's pretty? She's single, you know!"

"Fubuki..." said Asuka warningly.

"I mean, she and Ryou have always been so close, I kind of figured she'd get with him eventually, but Ryou's been a stick-in-the-mud about the whole thing," Fubuki rambled on, "so I figure you've got a pretty good chance..."

"Hey, wait, hold up," said Juudai, feeling his cheeks reddening. "I'm not _dating_ her or anything, I just..."

"... I mean, sure, you haven't got Ryou's power levels, but power isn't everything, am I right?" said Fubuki. "I mean, you're _different_ , and that always gets girls' attention..."

"Fubuki!" Asuka snapped.

"...So if you want to know anything about her, just ask me. I know all her favorites. I can totally help you plan a date..."

"I'm not dating her!" Juudai protested. "We barely know each other! We just kind of met on the boat!"

Fubuki wasn't listening. "I always knew she'd meet the right guy eventually. She's always been kind of shy around guys, and I have no idea why. You'd think with me as an older brother..."

"I formally retract my statement," said Asuka. "I _don't_ want you to meet my brother."

"...she'd know how awesome guys can be, and... huh?" said Fubuki, turning to stare at Asuka. "Did you say something?"

Asuka threw a snowball at him. It hit him squarely in the face, spraying snow everywhere. He spluttered and shook himself, then grinned, the light of battle coming into his eyes.

"Oh, it is on now!" he said. "You just challenged the master!"

"Bring it on, Big Brother!" she answered sweetly.

Juudai laughed. "Hey, is this a private party, or can anyone play?"

"Sure, the more the merrier!" said Fubuki. He grinned slyly. "I'll even let you be on Asuka's side, if you want."

"Ah... no, that's okay!" said Juudai, growing flustered. Asuka was a nice girl but given that this was only the second time he'd really talked to her, he felt Fubuki was trying to move things a bit fast. "How about the two of you against the two of us? That's fair, right?"

" _I_ would have been on Asuka's team," Shou muttered, but no one really paid attention.

They had a good time snowball fighting, even if afterwards Juudai wondered if challenging both Tenjoin siblings at the same time had really been a good idea. Fubuki, with his power over snow, could simply cause the snowballs to curve harmlessly around him, or rise up into a wall to protect him, and Asuka's flexible force fields could catch anything thrown at them and bounce it straight back. Still, it wasn't long before one of her deflected snowballs bounced towards her brother instead of the boy she'd been aiming for, which meant that of course Fubuki threw it back at her, and from that point on it was every man (or woman) for themselves. A few of the other students apparently decided that what they were doing looked like fun, or maybe they just wanted to get Fubuki's attention, because soon there were at least a dozen other people throwing frozen projectiles around, laughing every time they actually managed to hit something and laughing more when they didn't.

Juudai, shaking snow out of his eyes, scooped up another handful of snow and prepared to throw it more or less at random. At this point, there were enough people moving around the playing field that his odds of hitting someone were pretty good even if he did it with his eyes closed. He let fly and watched as his snowball sailed through the clear tropical sky.

A bolt of energy shot through it, and it burst into white powder. Several people squealed as flakes rained down on them.

"Hey, that's not in the rules!" Juudai protested, turning to see who had disrupted their game.

Standing at the edge of the snow field was a young man, probably a bit older than Juudai, dressed mostly in white - a long white jacket and tall boots that made him nearly blend in with the snow. He was watching the proceedings with an air of faint air of bemusement, as if he couldn't believe any of it was actually happening.

"Hey," Juudai called, "do you want to play too? Plenty of snow to go around!"

The boy's lips twitched. "No, that's quite all right, thank you."

Asuka bounded through the snow - it was deep enough that jumping was practically the only way to get through it - so that she could get within hailing distance of the newcomer.

"Hey, there, Ryou," she said. "Let me guess - you're looking for Fubuki?"

"If he's available," said the boy called Ryou.

"I'll see if I can pry him away from his fans," she said, and went wading through the snow and chaos.

Juudai eyed the newcomer curiously, and got a long cool stare in response. Juudai had the feeling that he was being sized up, having his statistics calculated, and the information filed away for future retrieval. This Ryou, he thought, made the snow look warm.

"You're Shou's brother?" he blurted.

That earned him a small smile. "Well, most people don't put it that way, but yes. I take it you're a friend of Shou's, then?"

"That's right! I'm Juudai!" Juudai replied.

"Ahh, I've heard of you," said Ryou.

Juudai was surprised. "Really? Did Shou tell you?"

"No," said Ryou. "I don't usually see him that often. I heard about you from Edo."

"Oh, yeah, him," said Juudai. "He's kinda got an attitude, doesn't he?"

Ryou chuckled, a low, almost inaudible sound. "Yes, I suppose he does."

"And you two are friends anyway?" Juudai persisted.

"Of a sort," Ryou agreed.

"Man," said Juudai. "If it were me, I think I'd hang out with him a little less and with Shou a little more."

"You may have a point," said Ryou, still smiling. "I'll take it under advisement."

Asuka returned, dragging a laughing Fubuki with her.

"Hey, Ryou!" he caroled. "Did you come to join in? I was going to have a sled race later!"

"No," said Ryou, "but I knew where I found snow, you couldn't be too far away. I'm surprised you haven't frozen the harbor over yet."

"Maybe later," said Fubuki. "What's up?"

"I wanted to talk to you," said Ryou. "In private."

Fubuki's expression sobered immediately. It was amazing how much his face changed without the sunny smile illuminating it.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"No, it's nothing like that," said Ryou. "I just have something I want to talk to you about. I want to get your opinion. It shouldn't take long."

"Well, all right, then," said Fubuki, brightening. "Sorry, guys, the sled race is just going to have to wait!"

He began sauntering alongside Ryou, the two of them heading back in the direction of the main building. Juudai watched them with interest.

"So, are they friends?" he asked Asuka. "They seem really different."

"As night and day," she agreed, "but for some reason they get along. I think it's because most people are intimidated by Ryou."

"I sure am," Shou muttered.

"But not Fubuki," said Asuka. "Nothing intimidates him. When everyone else was staring at Ryou in awe, Fubuki just walked right up to him and asked if he wanted to swap desserts. I think Fubuki is the only person I've ever seen who can get Ryou to laugh on a regular basis. Ryou talks to me, but he actually relaxes around Fubuki."

"I wonder what they're talking about?" said Shou, watching them wistfully. It must be hard, Juudai thought, to realize your own brother was closer to someone you'd just met than he was to you.

"Let's go find out," said Juudai, nodding decisively.

Asuka and Shou both stared at him.

"It's none of our business," she said. "What if it's something personal?"

"Then we'll stop listening," said Juudai with a shrug. "Come on. Aren't you just a little curious as to what's going on?"

"It's none of our business," said Asuka again, which Juudai interpreted as "Yes".

"Well, I'm gonna find out," he said, and began crunching through the snow after them.

"Hey, wait up!" Shou cried, and scampered after him, hopping in his footsteps to keep from being bogged down by deep snow.

Behind them, Juudai heard Asuka sigh something irritated about boys, and then there was the sound of someone trudging along on hard-packed snow. Juudai laughed. Just as he'd thought. As soon as his feet left the snow for soft green grass, he broke into a run.

* * *

A few minutes before Ryou had interrupted Fubuki's snowball fight, he had been relaxing in his room, watching an old movie and letting his mind wander. He'd been so deep in thought, in fact, that he hadn't noticed, at first, when someone started knocking on his door.

"Who is it?" he called, turning the TV off.

"I'm Erishi," said whoever was at the door. "One of the first years? Um, Principal Samejima sent me to fetch you. He says he wants to talk to you in his office."

"Well," said Ryou, sliding out of his easy chair, "and to think I thought today would be dull." He pulled on his jacket and went to answer the door. A boy in a yellow jacket, clearly ill-at-ease at being in the exalted Blue dorm, stood watching him as if he might go off at any second. "Thank you for the message. I'll go there now."

The boy nodded and scampered off. Ryou sauntered out of the dormitory at a more leisurely pace. Whatever Samejima wanted, it probably wasn't urgent, or he would have sent a message through Ryou's PDA instead of sending someone to fetch him. Since the matter apparently wasn't pressing, he felt justified in taking his time and enjoying the walk.

Academy Island was always a good place for walking. Ryou wondered why he didn't do it more often - but then, he was the school's top student, and had been since more or less the moment he'd first set foot on its shores. He had a reputation to keep up, and that meant studying and training harder than anyone else. That didn't leave a lot of time for idle rambling. If it hadn't been for Fubuki's influence, he might have gone for days at a time without seeing the sun except on trips from his dorm to class and back. Well, he'd be graduating soon, and with no one likely to ever catch up to his record-breaking scores, he might be able to afford to coast a little, once in a while. Maybe.

As he crossed the front quad, he heard the distant sounds of people squealing and laughing. He smiled a little, recognizing Fubuki's handiwork.

 _The same thing every year..._

He shook his head. Fubuki was powerful - obviously he was, or he wouldn't be able to coat a large swath of lawn on a tropical island in two feet of snow and then keep it from melting all morning. If he just had more discipline, he could become something truly impressive someday, but he seemed entirely happy making moguls for sled runs and flirting with whatever attractive people were near at hand. A bit of a waste, but sometimes it was hard not to envy him.

Ryou reached the main building and took the elevator up to the top floor, where Principal Samejima had his office. Ryou had read articles about the old days when Samejima had been an active superhero. He'd been very much of the same type of fighter Ryou was - enhanced strength, flying ability, energy bolts, the classic assortment. He was heavier and balder now than he'd been back at the peak of his profession, but he'd been a good mentor to Ryou almost from day one, and Ryou thought of him almost as a second father.

He let himself into the office and found Samejima sitting at his desk studying what appeared to be a selection of news articles on his computer screen.

"Ahh, good, you're here," he said. He waved at the chair across from his desk. "Please, have a seat."

Ryou settled into the chair and arranged himself in a listening posture. Samejima leaned forward and regarded Ryou soberly.

"How are you settling in?" he asked. "Classes going smoothly so far?"

Ryou smiled slightly. "I've got the hang of things by now, yes."

"I thought as much," said Samejima. "There hasn't been anything on this island that's challenged you in a long time, has there?"

"Oh, there are still some people who can give me a run for my money," said Ryou.

Samejima nodded. "Modesty befitting a hero. Marufuji, I've been doing some serious thinking, and I've decided it's about time for you to lead your first real mission."

Ryou's interest quickened. He sat up a little straighter. "Did you have something in mind?"

"As a matter of fact, I did," said Samejima. He turned his computer screen around. "There has been a rash of burglaries in this city recently - someone has been breaking into pharmacies, hospitals, and so forth and stealing chemicals. So far, there's no evidence that the perpetrators are using any sort of superpowers to do their work, so it will be a good job for you to cut your teeth on. I've been in contact with the local police force and arranged for you to have clearance to do the job, provided they don't crack the case before you get there."

"Do you think that's likely?" Ryou asked. He would be rather miffed if he got to the mainland ready for a battle only to find the local police slapping the crooks in handcuffs.

"Possible, but not likely," said Samejima. "There seems to be a lull of a few days between break-ins, so there should be plenty of time to prepare. We'll be sending you to the location three days from now."

"Thank you, sir," said Ryou. "I won't let you down."

"I'm sure you won't," said Samejima. "Now, understand that I'm not sending you alone. You'll be doing this without teacher supervision, but I do want you to take a team with you - at least two other field fighters and some backup. I'll leave it up to you how many you decide to take. I'm sure you'll use your best judgement."

"And I have three days to decide," Ryou murmured. That was going to be a difficult choice. He'd always imagined himself going solo, not as leader of a team, and picking people to go with him on his first mission felt like having to choose the best of a bad lot. "Do I need to run my choices past you to have them confirmed?"

Samejima shook his head. "Not necessary. I know you won't choose anyone who isn't up to the task. Just don't bring half the school with you, all right? Try to keep it down to no more than a dozen or so."

"I think I can do that," said Ryou. To tell the truth, he'd be hard pressed to come up with even that many, but he didn't think Samejima would appreciate it if he tried to leave without a full team in tow. He'd have to give the matter some serious thought.

"Good," said Samejima. "Just let me know when you're ready to go and I'll sort out the travel arrangements for you. And good luck."

"Thank you, sir. I'll make you proud," said Ryou, and stood to leave.

"I'm sure you will," Samejima replied. "Keep me updated."

Ryou gave him a respectful bow and turned to stride out of the room.

That was how, a few minutes later, he stood on the edge of Fubuki's annual snowfield and put an end to everyone's fun. He might have felt bad for that under other circumstances, but in this case he felt that he was entirely justified. Fubuki could make snowballs any time he wanted to, but Ryou couldn't go on field missions every day, and if this didn't go well, he might not get another chance for years.

He led his friend in the direction of the blue dorm, watching with some exasperation as Fubuki kept shooting wistful looks back over one shoulder.

"I won't keep you away for very long," Ryou said, a little testily.

"Sorry," said Fubuki. "It's just that I don't want the snow to melt."

"You can re-freeze it."

"Yeah, but it'll get all icy!"

Ryou shook his head. "Well, this is important. What kind of friend would you be if you didn't have time for me when I need you?"

As he'd expected, the appeal to emotion did the trick. Fubuki immediately turned around to meet his eyes. "Well, sure, when you put it like that... Okay, what's up?"

Ryou quickly explained what Samejima had just told him. It was rather gratifying to watch his old friend's eyes wide. When he was done, Fubuki's face split into a wide grin.

"Oh, wow," he said. "That's fantastic! When do you leave?"

Ryou felt himself smiling. That was probably the reason he kept putting up with Fubuki, even felt a genuine deep affection for him, in spite of his idiosyncracies. Fubuki didn't care about power or glory. He genuinely cared about people, all people. He believed everyone he met was essentially good and just waiting for a chance to be his friend, and nothing pleased him more than a chance to make other people happy, or to just bask in their happiness regardless of the cause. Ryou tended to take a more cynical view of the world, and if it hadn't been for Fubuki, he might have found it much harder to remember that the reason for becoming a hero wasn't just to put down the people who needed some punishment, but to help the people who were innocent. Sometimes he wondered, deep down, if Fubuki might not be more heroic material than he was.

"Three days," said Ryou, "and I'm supposed to use that time to put a team together. That's why I wanted to speak to you."

Fubuki brightened even more. "You want me to go with you?"

His eager interest was enough to make Ryou's thin smile turn into a grin. "Yes, you idiot, of course I want you to go with me. Samejima made it clear I need someone else to be fighting alongside me, and there aren't many other people besides you that I'd trust to watch my back."

"You know I'll do it," said Fubuki. "Man, this is going to be great. Our first field assignment! Who else is going?"

"I don't know," Ryou admitted. "I haven't gotten around to asking anyone else yet."

"Not even Edo?" Fubuki asked.

That brought Ryou up short. He hadn't even considered asking Edo. Yes, there were few people in this island whose skills he respected more than Edo's, but, well... it was complicated. Edo was one of the few students whose power level was essentially zero. All he seemed to have gotten from the niggling S-levels he had was some odd coloring and perhaps a smidgeon more strength and agility than the average person, hardly more than he'd have gotten just by becoming a devoted athlete instead of trying to be a hero. Yes, he'd managed to become a force to be reckoned with simply by training himself, and yes, he'd amassed an impressive quantity of mechanical gizmos to compensate for the fact that he had no powers of his own, but the point was, what he'd done was impressive only by normal human standards. In comparison to even a middling superhero, he came up lacking. All it would take was someone like Manjoume who could throw sparks, and his machines would be less than useless, mere impediments, and then he'd be vulnerable to anything anyone stronger and faster than him cared to throw.

"I might ask him," Ryou hedged. "He'd be good for reconnaissance, if nothing else."

Fubuki nodded as if the matter had been decided. "Okay, that makes three of us. Who else do you want to bring? How many people are you supposed to have?"

"More than three, less than twelve," said Ryou, waving a hand vaguely. "That's the other reason I wanted to talk to you, actually. Who would you suggest?"

Fubuki looked surprised. "Why are you asking me?"

"Because," said Ryou, "you're a people person. I'm not."

Fubuki laughed. "Man, you've got that right! You really gotta get out more. I could introduce you to some people if you'd just let me..."

"This isn't the time to be talking about my social life," said Ryou testily. "Let's stay on subject, please. Look, the point is that you know practicably everyone on the island. I don't. I want you to help me think of enough people to make a respectable team."

"Huh. Okay, I guess that makes sense," said Fubuki.

He paused to think, staring off at the sky and running his hand through his hair. Or maybe he was just posing. No one had ever accused Fubuki of false modesty, especially where his looks were concerned, and he had to know what a picture he made, staring thoughtfully out into space with his hair blowing in the gentle tropical wind.

"Well," he said at last," there's Austin O'Brien."

"Who's he? Do I know him?"

"He's new this year. He's a fire-thrower. You know, I do water and ice, he does fire. I figure between the two of us, we ought to be able to handle anything anyone throws as us."

"Okay, I like that idea. That's good," said Ryou. "I'll talk to him. Anyone else spring to ming?"

"We could ask Asuka."

"No. Absolutely not," said Ryou.

"Aw, why not?" Fubuki asked. "We can't all be fighters, you know. We need someone to run defense."

"Yes, but..." said Ryou, and sighed. "I don't know. I'll think about it. She's not all that practiced yet, and I don't want to see her get hurt."

Fubuki grinned and nudged him. "Oh, so you want to see me get hurt, is that it?"

Ryou shoved him back and didn't deign to reply.

"All right, any other suggestions?" he asked instead.

Fubuki thought some more. "Well, you need a healer. How about Johan Anderson?"

"Now, that isn't a bad notion," said Ryou thoughtfully. He'd met the boy a few times. They didn't cross paths often, mostly because their skill sets were so different that there wasn't much point in pitting them against each other. Johan was a pretty respectable healer, not as good as some but good enough that given time, he could patch up most things that didn't kill a person outright. His primary skill was astral projection - stepping out of his body and wandering around as a spirit. His range wasn't infinite, but it was enough that he might be relaxing on the beach while his body sat in class in the middle of the island if he thought he could get away with it. He'd be useful for recon as well as for patching up any unfortunate injuries.

"All right," said Fubuki. "Let's see, how many does that make? Four? Five?"

"Five," said Ryou. "I think we should add one or two more backup people, just to keep the Chancellor happy."

"Hm,' said Fubuki. "Okay, do you know Jim Cook? He's new this year."

"I think," said Ryou, "that we can take it as said that I don't know any of the new students yet."

"You know your brother," Fubuki pointed out.

Ryou rolled his eyes. "Fine. I know my brother, but no one else."

"Okay, so Jim Cook. He's a first year student and doesn't do much fighting, but he's got this thing where he can just size up a situation and know instantly what needs to be done to turn it to his advantage. He's got brains." Ryou thought Fubuki almost sounded envious. Fubuki had power, skill, charm, and looks, but no one had ever called him one of the great minds of the age.

"He sounds ideal," said Ryou, approvingly. "Too bad we can't get Saiou to go along with us, but barring that, Jim will probably do the trick. I'll talk to him later, too, if you'll introduce us."

Saiou was a very special case. He was the most powerful telepath on the island - projective and receptive both, along with being clairvoyant and prescient and having a limited degree of telekinesis - the entire psychic set, in other words. He had a reputation for being so powerful that even the teachers were somewhat in awe of him. Ryou had only met him once or twice - he was so reclusive that his existence was actually doubted by some of the students. The reason for this was because he was so very powerful that he couldn't always control his abilities. He was forced to spend most of his time in a specially reinforced room to keep his power from escaping and mind-controlling half the island. The effort it would take to keep himself under control long enough to run a mission would counterbalance any usefulness he might have.

Fubuki nodded agreeably. "Yeah, Jim's probably the safer choice. So, six people. That's enough to fill a team, right?"

"It should be enough," said Ryou, nodding. "Now I just need to find them and get them to agree to help."

"Are you kidding? They'll be thrilled," said Fubuki. "Everyone will want to be out doing a real field mission with the big man on campus."

Ryou smiled a little. "Don't call me that. It makes me sound like someone from a frat house."

"Would that really be so bad?" Fubuki asked teasingly, and Ryou cuffed him again. "Ow! Man, you don't know your own strength."

"Oh, I know," said Ryou. He stood up. "Come on. Let's see if we can go find some of these people. I want to see if they live up to your recommendation."

"Of course they do! Don't you trust my judgement?" Fubuki asked, but he began walking towards the dormitory anyway. "Let's look for O'Brien first. He's usually in the gym when he's not in class. He wasn't born with enhanced strength but you sure wouldn't know it to look at him. You'll like him, Ryou - his dad was a soldier so he's got the whole 'discipline' thing going for him..."

Fubuki continued to ramble on, filling Ryou in on the vagaries of what Ryou was already beginning to consider his team. The thought lifted his spirits a little. He was truly looking forward to this mission, and he was even gladder that his best friend would be there to share it with him.

* * *

From the shelter of a tall tree, Juudai looked at Asuka and Shou, whose expressions bore identical expressions of shock and intrigue. The three of them had perched in the boughs of one of the huge old trees that graced the edges of the Blue Dorm's lawn, from which vantage point they'd been able to overhear everything Ryou and Fubuki had been talking about.

"Man, that guy is so lucky," he said enviously. "Getting to run his own field mission..."

Asuka's expression twisted into one of disapproval. "Did you hear how he dismissed me? I thought better of him."

"He should bring you along," said Shou. "I'll bet you'd be really useful. I mean, those force fields of yours..."

Juudai nodded. "Definitely. You're too good to leave behind."

Asuka looked somewhat mollified. "I'll track Fubuki down and twist his arm. I'll make him make Ryou bring me along if I have to. I'm not letting my brother run off into danger without bringing someone who can protect him."

"Good idea," Juudai agreed.

He slid down out of the tree, landing with a crunch of dry leaves. The other two dropped down beside him - Shou with a thump and a stagger, Asuka with more decorum, aided by her invisible force fields, which gave her a set of platforms to step down on, like a staircase.

"No good talking to him now, though," she said. "I'll catch him after dinner. He's bound to be done talking to people by then." She regarded Juudai thoughtfully. "I suppose I should thank you for dragging me along. At least now I know what's going on."

"No problem," Juudai assured her. "Hey, good luck talking your brother around."

"Oh, I think I can manage," said Asuka, and her smile suggested that if her brother didn't take her side, she'd find ways to make his life miserable until he did.

The three of them parted company - Asuka presumably off to plan her strategy, Juudai and Shou drifting off in the direction of the snow field.

"You should talk to your brother, too," he said.

Shou shook his head. "It wouldn't do any good. He'd never listen to me, and anyway, I don't have any powers."

"That shouldn't make any difference. You're his brother. He should want to share this with you."

"Yeah, but you heard him," said Shou. "He didn't want to bring Edo along and Edo's way better in a fight than I am. I'd only slow him down."

"That's no way to think. You gotta be more positive!" said Juudai. He grabbed Shou's shoulders, forcing him to meet his eyes. "Look, you have a power of your own. I _know_ it. You've gotta trust me on this one. Someday, you'll figure out what that power is, and then no one will be able to stop you. So stop thinking you can't do anything, okay?"

Shou nodded timidly, looking unconvinced. Juudai felt a pang of frustration. What would it take to get him to show some spine?

"Look," he said, "I've got an idea. Let's go together!"

Shou's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

"When they leave to go on their mission," said Juudai. "We'll sneak onto the boat or the plane or the helicopter, or whatever it is they're taking to the mainland, and we'll go along with them."

"That sounds dangerous," Shou protested. "Big Brother will be really mad if he catches us."

"Is that worse than not going at all?" Juudai asked.

He thought it was a pretty telling thrust, but Shou still looked unconvinced.

"It'll be okay," said Juudai. "I'll be there with you. If anything goes wrong, you can blame me."

"Well, okay," said Shou. "Since it doesn't look like you're going to change your mind. But I still think this is a really bad idea."

"It'll be fine. You'll see," Juudai insisted. Something else occurred to him, something so important, he couldn't believe it had slipped his mind. "Hey, you know what we forgot?"

Shou blinked. "No, what?"

"We forgot to eat breakfast! You dragged me right out into the snow without giving me time to eat, and now it's nearly lunch time," said Juuda. "I'm starving!"

Shou put a hand over his stomach and grimace. "You're right! I completely forgot!"

"Well, come on, then!" said Juudai, grabbing Shou by the arm and picking up his pace. "Let's go get something to eat!"

Shou nodded and followed at a jog. Juudai hurried onward, his mind already occupied with thoughts of food.

Heroic missions could just wait until tomorrow.


	6. Preparations

Another one had died that morning.

Not that anyone ever told Yubel anything directly, but word got around in such a small space. When Yubel had first arrived at the facility, there had been at least two dozen others, ranging in age to little more than toddlers to a few in their late teens. Now there were six left. Of the ones that were gone, eight of them had been hauled away in bags. As for the rest, they'd been unable to cope. They'd been reduced to gibbering and screaming or rocking silently in corners, too broken to do anything more with. They had been led away, and Yubel had no idea what had become of them. If he'd had the energy to think about it, he'd have hoped that they had simply been turned loose, to heal if they could, and to at least die out in the sunlight and open air if they couldn't.

He curled up and whimpered a little.

Today had been the worst day of all. The "treatments" had gone on for over two hours, and he'd spent most of the time writhing and screaming in pain, until numbness had overtaken him, and he'd been left to lie inert while his captives did whatever they were doing to him. He had been trying so hard not to pay attention, but he could still dimly remember the knives and the needles...

He jerked his mind away from that thought. He didn't want to remember. It would do him no good to remember.

Yubel stirred a little on his bed, just enough to slip one hand under his thin pillow and touch the flattened candy wrapper that was still there. It was beginning to look worn now, its color rubbed away from being handled so much, but there were still smears of melted chocolate on the inside, and if he put it to his nose, he could still catch faint whiffs of its scent. He did that now, closing his eyes to shut out the holding cell's white florescent lights and the dull brown walls of his room.

 _I'm not here, I'm not here..._

It was funny. The worse things got for him here, the easier it was for him to send his mind somewhere else. He had imagined over and over what it would be like when he finally got out of here, what it would be like on the island and at the school Juudai had talked about. He'd invented so many adventures that the two of them would have, everything from saving the school from evil invaders to simple sleepovers, watching movies and eating pizza together. They would laugh together, throw popcorn, and have pillow fights that would end with them slumping against each other, still laughing, and Juudai would say, "Man, I can't remember the last time I had so much fun. I'm glad you're here with me, Yubel. It wouldn't be so much fun without you..."

Gradually, Yubel began to calm down, soothed by this pleasant fantasy. His captors might have wondered why he was holding himself together when the others were all falling apart. He would never tell them his secret, but really, it was very simple: Juudai was waiting for him. If Yubel died now, Juudai would never know what had become of him, and would spend the rest of his life wondering where his friend had gone and why he hadn't come back. Yubel wouldn't let that happen. No matter how bad things got, Yubel would survive, because he had to be there for Juudai. He could endure any pain as long as he remembered what was waiting for him at the end.

Very slowly, he sat up, trying to remember how to move. His body ached all over, and his muscles didn't seem to work the way they once had. Very carefully, he flexed his fingers, trying to get used to his new claws. The changes they were making to his body were coming faster now, and it was getting harder to absorb them. The wings they had given him were still bound close to his body to keep him from moving them while they finished healing, and there was another bandage wrapped across his forehead whose purpose he still wasn't sure about and didn't have the courage to investigate. He wondered if Juudai would recognize him when they met again.

Well, it would be all right. Juudai had been on his way to the school for superheroes. He liked supers, didn't he? He would be so impressed when he saw how much stronger Yubel's powers had become since last time they'd seen each other.

 _That's why I have to do this,_ he thought, seizing on the idea. _This is for Juudai. He'll be so happy when he sees me again. I have to do this to make Juudai happy..._

With a little sigh, he sank back against his pillow again, resting on his side to spare his stitches.

 _Don't worry about me, Juudai. I won't let you down..._

* * *

Saiou sat by his window, looking out over the landscape and idly toying with a deck of Tarot cards. If his turned his head just so, he could make out the diamond-bright glint of snow that meant that the school's most popular heartthrob was at it again. It was tempting to go out and enjoy the snow a little himself. It had been some time since he'd left his room, and he was probably due for a little fresh air.

The thought was abandoned when he heard the sound of footsteps coming towards his door. He knew them, even without having to exercise his powers. There would never be any way he could mistake the sound of Edo's footsteps.

"Come in, Edo," he said, when he heard them stop.

There was a slight hesitation, and Saiou smiled. He had learned some time ago that while his powers were vast, they were nothing compared to the power of his reputation. Everyone on the island knew what he could do by now. He had achieved something like legendary status here, and if he ever cared to venture back to the mainland, he probably could have become even more famous. For now, it was enough that everyone here knew that he could see the future, and that he knew what was going on in other parts of the island without ever having to leave the safety and comfort of his rooms. So now, even when all he was doing was exercising his simple powers of observation, picking up on things that even a normal with no more power than a paving stone could see if they paid attention, people assumed he was using his psychic gifts and were amazed by him.

The door swung open, and Edo stepped in. Anger and hurt rolled off him in waves, but again, Saiou didn't need any empathic gifts to guess his best friend's mood. It was written in every line of his face, in the tension of his shoulders, in the way he stepped on the soft purple carpet as if it had personally offended him.

"He asked me to be _backup_ ," were his opening words. He flung himself into a chair and glared at the world in general.

"You're going to have to supply a little more information than that," said Saiou.

Not true, of course. He could have gotten it all with a thought, with a quick touch, but it was better if he let Edo say it himself. It wasn't just that doing so would have been tiring, and a violation of Edo's privacy besides. Edo obviously needed someone to vent to, and Saiou was a very good listener when he cared to be. You couldn't be as good a fortune teller as he was if you didn't learn to listen.

"Ryou Marufuji," he said, as if speaking the name of his worst enemy, "is going on his first field mission. A real field mission, with no teachers to watch him, against a real enemy. He's going to be leading it. He's picking his own team. And do you know what he told me?"

"That he wants you to be backup, apparently," said Saiou.

"Backup!" Edo repeated, throwing up his hands. "With that Jim Cook character with the crocodile, and with Johan Anderson. I'm going to be playing backup with a couple of characters who probably couldn't outrun my sainted grandmother even after she died."

"I'm sure he has his reasons," said Saiou mildly.

"Oh, sure, he has his reasons," Edo said. "He's doing it because he knows I don't have any powers. He went on about how my skills at reconnaissance are better than anyone else's he knows - besides you, I think he said - but we both know this is what it's really about. He thinks he's so much better than me, and that I can't take care of myself out in the real world just because I don't have his precious S-levels."

Saiou smiled slightly. "I hope you told him differently."

"I tried. He didn't want to hear it," said Edo. "I'm telling you, there was no point in even trying to make him listen. Anyway, that's not the point." There was an element of surprise in his voice. Saiou understood. Up until Edo has said that, he'd truly believed he was angry about being put in the backup portion of Ryou's team instead of one of the fighters. "The thing is, I liked Ryou. I thought he was different. I thought he actually respected me. Now I find out that deep down, he really is just like everyone else."

Saiou nodded, saying nothing. He could understand how that felt.

Saiou and his sister had both been late-bloomers, as far as supers went. Mizuchi had actually manifested her abilities before Saiou had, at age twelve, when she'd suddenly conjured a duplicate of herself out of her reflection in a mirror. It had been a huge surprise to everyone, and no one more than herself. Since then, she'd come to terms with her gifts, but she'd never developed to the point where she had felt the need for further training. She'd never wanted to be a hero. She was currently serving as a shrine maiden at a Shinto temple and was perfectly happy there with her meditations and her work.

Saiou, on the other hand, had been less lucky. Only a few months after Mizuchi had manifested her powers, he'd read his father's mind for the first time. After that, the revelations had come thick and fast, as his burgeoning powers had burst onto his life like a series of fireworks going off in his face. He had never wanted to be a hero, either. He had only wanted a quiet life, but the difference between himself and Mizuchi had become apparent almost at once. He was just too strong for an ordinary life. He could hurt ordinary people without meaning to. More than that, he scared them. People who had been his friends all his life had suddenly wanted nothing to do with him. Even his own parents had started to become afraid of him. He had run away from home at fifteen, and he'd had a very hard time of it before a recruiter had tracked him down and told him that he'd be welcome at Academy Island. Here, at least, they had the systems in place to dampen his powers and keep him from rattling someone's brains by accident, and had the teachers who could tell him what to do with his terrifying new gifts. He'd carved out something like a home here.

Only Edo had remained his friend. The two of them had first met when Edo's father had died, after Saiou had received a warning from his cards that it was important that the two of them meet. Edo hadn't been afraid of him. He'd been thrilled to meet someone like Saiou - just when he needed him, from Edo's point of view. That, more than any psychic vision, had confirmed in Saiou's mind that the two of them were meant to be the best of friends. The fact that Edo not only wasn't afraid of Saiou but considered him all the more valuable for his gifts meant that Edo was a treasure beyond price.

Even if Saiou's talents hadn't been of much real use to him yet.

"Don't look at this as an insult," said Saiou.

Edo scowled. "So what, exactly, am I supposed to look at it as? It _is_ an insult. I'm every bit as capable in the field as that beach bum he hangs out with."

"So you are," Saiou agreed, "but that isn't the part of this situation you should be focusing on. Stewing over insults, even genuine ones, will not get you any closer to your goal. Action will. Use this as an opportunity to show everyone what you're truly capable of." He raised one eyebrow. "I believe I am not mistaken when I surmise that you are more than capable of handling yourself in a field situation."

That got a laugh out of Edo, and Saiou smiled, sharing the joke. This might well be Ryou Marufuji's first field mission, but it would hardly be Edo's. When other students spent their summer vacations catching up on their video games or going on family trips, Edo had an entirely different way of spending his time.

Edo's father had once been a teacher at this very school. He'd taught higher-level classes on theory, classes that were half-science and half-speculation, focusing on how exactly superpowers _worked_. How could someone like Fubuki create snowstorms out of seemingly nowhere? How did someone like Kenzan turn from a hundred and sixty pounds or so of human into a ton or so of dinosaur? How, for that matter, was Saiou able to know things that were going to happen before they happened? Edo's father had spent much of his free time and all of his career pondering these very subjects, along with the fundamental question: What were superpowers, really, and where did they come from? Why did some people have them and not others? Was there any way to give them to a person artificially, or take them away again if they should become a danger to the populace? They were subjects Saiou himself would have enjoyed discussing with the man, but sadly, it was not to be. When Edo had been five years old, his father had been killed, and a great deal of his research stolen. Unfortunately, it was research he'd been working on alone and had never shared with anyone, not even his own son, and when the papers had disappeared, it was likely that a lot of valuable information about supers had disappeared with them.

And fallen into the hands of... whom, exactly? No one knew. There had been an extensive and well-publicized search, but in the end, all the leads had fizzled out. Now, with no one left to interview and more clues to follow up on, the case was left in limbo, waiting for a break that might never come. Even Saiou's extensive skill set had come up with nothing more than vague warnings and even vaguer hints.

But Edo had been unable to let it rest. His father had been his sole living relative, and the two of them had loved each other dearly. The idea that someone could kill the one person he loved most and never be punished for it had not settled well with Edo. He'd made up his mind, the day of his father's funeral, that he was going to be a superhero someday. He was going to deliver justice to those who harmed the innocent, but most of all, he was going to find whoever it was who had taken his father away from him, and he was going to wreak every drop of vengeance he could.

As far as Saiou could tell, he was well on the way to doing it. Shortly after the death of his father, a notable hero, a man known publicly as DD, had adopted Edo and had begun tutoring him in the way of the hero. Even the fact that Edo had failed to manifest any real powers of his own hadn't deterred him. He'd used his considerable fortune to supply Edo with all the mechanical contraptions he needed to get the job done. Sometimes the two of them even went out hunting villains together. More often than not, though, Edo would simply slip out at night and hunt for troublemakers he could put down on his own. He generally went incognito, so it was doubtful that anyone other than close friends and family - of which he had few of either - knew that he was the one who kept leaving thieves tied up in front of police stations with his signature red and gold "phoenix feathers" pinned to them as his calling card.

That being the case, it was small wonder that Edo was a bit miffed at discovering that Ryou deemed him unfit for a field mission.

"You're probably right," said Edo, mustering up a smile. "Why worry? I'll just go along with the gag for now, and when they get out onto the field..."

"You'll show them who is the professional and who is the rank amateur," said Saiou.

"You can say that again," said Edo.

Saiou smiled, pleased to have calmed his friend down. "I am sorry I will not be able to go with you, but you understand why I cannot."

Edo nodded, turning serious. The reason why Saiou seldom left his room was that there were dampeners built into the walls. They were expensive and difficult to make, so they were only used for those students whose mental abilities were so strong (or whose control was so weak) that they would have threatened to disrupt the behavior of everyone who came near them. Without those dampeners, Saiou had to spend most of his mental energy on preventing himself from bending everyone who came near him into doing whatever it was he wanted done. When he had a song stuck in his head, he could have the whole school humming it like some sort of demented Broadway musical. When he was in a bad mood, fights broke out all over the island. On the flip side, there were certain disadvantages to catching hold of the thoughts of a whole island filled with teenagers whose private thoughts were frequently not on their studies. Putting him in the middle of a metropolitan area without proper shielding would have meant he'd either have to spend most of his mental energy on keeping himself under wraps, or risk turning random innocent passers-by into his thralls.

"If we ever find my dad's notes..." Edo began.

"When we find them, I'm sure there will be something in them that will help," said Saiou. "Until then, we must cope."

"Have your cards turned up anything new?" Edo asked.

"Not recently," Saiou admitted. "I confess that with the school year beginning, I have been distracted. Would you like me to try again?"

"Please," said Edo.

There was naked hope on his face. It made Saiou feel a trifle guilty. He had tried so many times and come up with nothing. He could only imagine that whoever had stolen the notes was using something they contained to block his scrying. Still, there was no excuse for betraying Edo's trust in him by simply being lazy. Saiou took out his cards and began shuffling them, then spreading them out on the table.

 _Tell me, he willed them. If you can't tell me where the killer is, at least tell me something I can tell Edo..._

He looked down at the cards he'd arranged. For a moment, he simply stared at them, letting their message sink in.

"Hmm," he said.

"What? What?" Edo asked. "Do they say anything?"

"Not about the murder," said Saiou. "But something relating to you."

"Well, spill it," said Edo. "Are they telling me I shouldn't go on this mission, too?"

"Nothing like that," said Saiou. "It's about your foster father."

"Well, what about him?" Edo persisted.

"He's coming to the island."

* * *

It was afternoon, and Juudai was bored. He lay on his back beneath a tree that stood conveniently at the edge of the island - the literal edge, because about ten feet away from the tree's farthest branch's tip, there was a sudden drop off a cliff and into the sea. He liked to sit there from time to time and look out over the water and imagine the exciting things that were happening in other parts of the world where homework wasn't everyone's top priority. Today he was there primarily because his homework was done already and there didn't seem to be much else of interest going on. Shou sat a few feet away, idly poking at a video game on his PDA. How he'd gotten that installed, Juudai didn't know, but he made up his mind to ask later when he wasn't feeling so lazy.

"Uh oh," said Shou suddenly, looking up from his game. "Looks like someone is having a bad day."

Juudai, sensing something interesting, though perhaps not pleasant, about to unfold, looked up. Stomping up the path was a familiar young blonde woman.

"Geeez," he said. "Wonder what's gotten into Asuka? She looks like someone just kicked her dog or something."

"She looks a lot madder than that," Shou opined. It was true. If Asuka's power had been fire-throwing, she would have been a walking inferno.

"I thought you might be up here," she said, her tone clipped. She dropped down against one of the unoccupied sides of the tree with an uncharacteristic lack of grace.

"Careful," said Juudai. "Go throwing yourself around like that and you'll go over the edge."

"I'm about to throw someone off the edge," she snapped. "Like that jerk Ryou, for starters."

Juudai and Shou looked at each other with dismay. They had never heard Asuka talk like that about anybody.

"What's the problem?" Juudai asked. And then, as realization dawned, he added, "Let me guess - he said you couldn't come?"

"He said I couldn't come!" she exploded. Then she took a breath and let it out in a long gust. "I'm sorry. It's not your fault. I shouldn't take it out on you. I'm just... I'm frustrated."

"It's okay," said Juudai. "I mean, if it wasn't for me, you wouldn't' have known he was leaving and you wouldn't know you had anything to be mad about."

She pursed her lips. "That doesn't make it any better."

"Why wouldn't he let you go?" Shou asked. "I mean, you're so good at things... and I know he likes you. He said you were one of his best friends."

"Well, apparently that doesn't mean much this time," she said. "I tried talking to him, and so did Fubuki, but he won't change his mind. He says it's too dangerous and I don't have enough experience, and he's not budging. I can't believe he's being so pig-headed."

"That stinks," said Juudai with feeling. "I wish there was something we could do."

Shou sighed. "Yeah. It would be nice if at least one of us got to go. At least then you could tell us all about it when you got back."

She smiled a little. "You wish you could go too, huh? Well, I'm sure when your powers come in, things will be different."

"Yeah, but that could take forever!" Shou complained. "I might be all grown up before that happens! And you're good at things now. He should have let you come along.'

Juudai stared out into the distance - not at the ocean, as he had been, but at the harbor. From where he sat, he could see a large white boat parked in the marina, the only vessel visible. It hadn't been there yesterday. It was, he thought, quite a large boat. A lot of people could ride on it.

"Do you think that's the boat they're going to use to get to the mainland?" he asked.

Shou and Asuka looked at him with equal expression of disapproval.

"You had better not be thinking what I think you're thinking," said Asuka.

"Well, why not?" he asked. "We wouldn't be in the way. We'd just be watching."

"You really have to get in on everything that happens around here, don't you?" asked Shou, with equal parts respect and annoyance.

"Well, yeah," said Juudai, unabashed. "So what do you say, guys? Do you think we should try it? I bet there are plenty of places to hide down there, and I don't think any of the people Ryou's bringing along have x-ray vision or anything like that."

Asuka's lis twitched in something that was almost a smile. "No, he's not bringing Misawa with him. I remember hearing him complaining about it at length, though in his case, I'm not sure I blame Ryou for the decision."

"He's not so good at taking orders," said Shou sagely, nodding. They had been through a few more games of the token game and similar events by now, and he'd had enough experience to know.

"Neither am I," said Juudai honestly and unrepentantly. "And I say it can't hurt to just, you know, go down and _look_ at the boat. And if it just happens to pull out of port while we're on it, well, that's not our fault, right?"

Asuka looked uncertain. "Well, I suppose it would teach him a lesson..."

"Right!" said Juudai, bouncing to his feet. "Come on! Let's go!"

He began trotting down towards the marina, not waiting to see if the others were following him. Whether they wanted to tag along or not, he wanted to see the boat.

It was, as he had surmised, quite a nice boat, easily large enough to provide berths for a dozen students - which made sense, Juudai supposed, since Ryou had said that was the maximum number he'd be allowed to bring along. The ship was painted white, with two thin stripes, one red and one blue, painted near the top railing. There were a few deck hands moving around, apparently making sure everything was ready for the trip out. One of them looked down and noticed Juudai standing there, and his friends hurrying to catch up to him.

"Hey!" said the deck hand. "Are you kids with the group that's supposed to go to Domino tonight?"

Juudai grinned. "Why else would we be hanging around down here?" There were plenty of good answers to that, of course, but the deck hand took it as a 'yes', as Juudai had known he would. He didn't like lying, but if someone wanted to jump to conclusions, that was their business, right?

"All right," said the deck hand. "Let me get the gangplank down for you."

A moment later, said gangplank was duly produced. Juudai turned and smiled at his friend.

"Well?" he said. "Are you going to do it?"

Asuka nodded and marched up the gangplank with a determined stride. Shou scampered after her, as if he were afraid he'd change his mind if he waited around and thought about it. Juudai brought up the rear, strolling as casually as if he really had been invited.

The three of them were shown to private cabins - tiny rooms with scarcely more space than was needed for a bed and a dressing table, but at least they were clean and cheerfully colored, all yellow walls and bright green blankets and curtains, and they had their own closet-sized attached bathrooms.

"Pretty swanky," said Juudai. "Now, all we have to do is hole up here until the ship gets going."

"This isn't so bad," Asuka agreed. "I have to confess, I thought you were going to try to make us hole up in the cargo hold."

"Well, that's not a bad idea, either," said Juudai. "I mean, I don't think they'd ever think to look for us down there..."

Asuka shook her head and ducked back into her own cabin, apparently trying to get out of the way before Juudai could try to make her actually go into a cargo hold. He didn't think it was such a bad idea. He doubted this ship was carrying a lot of cargo, so the hold would probably actually be roomier than this tiny bunk.

He stretched out on the bed and closed his eyes, thinking that he might take a nap while he waited for the ship to get underway. It wasn't as though anything interesting was likely to happen between here and Domino. However, he'd barely gotten settled before he heard the sound of people talking out in the hall. Apparently he and his friends had timed this jaunt just right. Very carefully, Juudai got up and crept over to the door, pressing his ear to the crack to listen. He could make out Ryou's voice issuing calm, quiet orders, and he recognized Jim and O'Brien responding to him. There was another voice, too, one he didn't know as well. He wondered who it could be.

"Does everyone have everything they need?" Ryou was saying. "If you need any materials, now is the time. We aren't turning back once we get started."

 _We had better not turn back,_ Juudai thought. There was still the chance that they'd get caught between now and their destination, and he really didn't care to be escorted back to the island in shame.

"I don't need a thing," said the unfamiliar voice cheerfully.

"I have all my stuff," said Edo's voice. He sounded more than a little peeved. "You know I can't get by without my things, don't you, Ryou?"

"None of that," said Ryou. "This is not the time to be in-fighting."

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Edo. "Are we admitting that I'm capable of fighting now? I thought we had decided that I'm only good for recon."

"Edo, if you don't drop that attitude right now, I am sending you back to the island and we will be doing this mission without you."

"Hey, hey, easy, there, big fella," said Jim's cheerful voice. "We're supposed to be fighting the bad guys, not each other, okay? Now, Edo," he said, turning more serious, "I know you don't like this assignment, but it's not going to change so there's no point in fighting about it. Just deal with it and wait for a better assignment later."

"That's easy for you to say," said Edo.

"That is easy for me to say," said Jim, "and I have the same assignment you do, and I _do_ have powers. Johan here has powers, and he's been assigned to recon, same as you. You can't say that Ryou is playing favorites when he's got someone as powerful as Johan doing the same job you are, can you?"

There was a long pause. Juudai was holding his breath as he waited for an answer.

"Fine," said Edo at last, resignation in his voice. "I guess I can live with doing recon."

"Thank you," said Ryou. He didn't sound like he'd been looking forward to an argument, and was glad it had been averted. "I need my whole team working together tonight. Finding these thugs is going to be harder than putting them down, so I need the most talented scouts I can get. Don't take that as an insult."

"Well, you might have a point, at that," said Edo. "I guess it takes more brains to do recon than to beat people upside the head anyway."

He sounded a little more cheerful, and his footsteps were light and quick as he hurried down the hall, presumably to get settled in for the trip.

"You did that pretty well," said the unfamiliar voice - Johan?

"I have a knack," said Jim modestly.

"I don't think anyone told me what you did," said Johan.

"I see things," said Jim. "Potential. I always know the best thing to do."

"That sounds useful," said Johan. "The coolest thing I do is be where I'm not."

"Well, that sounds like a good trick to me," said Jim.

"It is," said Johan. "Watch this!"

Juudai thought he felt some sort of shiver in the air. He wondered what Johan was doing.

In the next instant, he felt a rush of something warm and lively against him, as if he'd just walked through a swarm of lightning bugs. He gave an involuntary yelp and toppled over backwards. At the same time, he caught a glimpse of a blue-haired boy standing in front of him, who looked every bit as surprised to see Juudai as Juudai was to see him. He was also, Juudai realized a split second later, completely transparent.

Then the boy vanished, and Juudai realized suddenly that whatever had just happened, it wasn't any good for him.

There was a commotion outside as everyone seemed to be asking at once why someone had been shouting, and Johan tried to explain what he'd just seen. Juudai didn't have time to sort through it all before his door was suddenly flung open, and Ryou was standing there, resplendent in his white costume and looking positively, coldly furious.

"Well," said Ryou, "we seem to have taken on a passenger. Juudai, what are you doing in here?"

"Taking a nap?" Juudai offered.

Ryou shook his head. "Somehow, I don't think so. Are you alone?"

Juudai tried to think of an answer, and was saved from having to do so by O'Brien's voice coming from the hall.

"There are two more," he said. He hauled Shou and Asuka into view, both of them struggling vainly against his powerful grip.

"Well, this is quite a party, isn't it?" said Ryou. He looked from Asuka to Juudai and back again. "All right, whose idea was this?"

"Mine," said Juudai and Asuka at the same time.

Ryou sighed. "I suppose it doesn't matter either way. Really, Asuka, I expected better of you."

"And I expected better of you," she replied. "I thought you had more respect for me than this."

"You can't possibly still be angry about that," said Ryou. "I explained my reasoning..."

"And I don't buy it," said Asuka. She folded her arms and looked determined. Juudai looked at her, then at Ryou, then at the reactions of the others. O'Brien looked disapproving. Fubuki seemed to be trying not to laugh. Jim seemed to be enjoying the whole spectacle. The boy who had appeared through the door, Johan, seemed completely lost. Edo had a glint in his eye that was downright satisfied, as if he thought this was exactly what Ryou deserved.

"I should have you all hauled in front of Chancellor Samejima and disciplined," said Ryou.

"Aw, I don't know," said Fubuki. "I think it would be fun to have them along."

"This isn't a pleasure cruise, Fubuki," said Ryou.

Jim was looking thoughtfully, first at Asuka, then at Juudai, and then finally at Shou.

"I think we should bring them," he opined. "They can be of help. The more resources we have to draw on, the better."

"Let's bring them," said Edo. "They can help with _recon_."

"Hmm," said Ryou. Then he seemed to make up his mind. "All right. They can stay. Do you hear that?" he added, raking Juudai and his friends with his eyes. "You can all stay, if you promise to obey orders and stay out of the way when you aren't called for. Is that clear?"

"Clear," said Asuka, and Juudai and Shou nodded in time with her.

"Well, that's settled, then," said Ryou. "Jim, you had better check and make sure there are no more stowaways. I'm going to tell the captain that we're ready to set sail."

"On it," said Jim. He started down the hall, flashing Juudai and his companions a smile as he went. "Glad to have you aboard."

"Glad to be here!" said Juudai. His spirits were lifting. That hadn't gone exactly the way he'd planned it, but what mattered was that now they were _in_. They were on a real mission, just like he'd always dreamed he would be.

Somewhere deep in the recesses of his mind, there was a thought he hadn't quite articulated: a slim hope that if he got out of the carefully controlled environment of the school, put himself in a position where he really needed his powers, they might finally show up and show him what he could do.


	7. A Real Mission

It was, Ryou thought, a perfect night.

This was how he'd always dreamed it would be. He was standing on the roof of an office building, looking down at the slowly moving city traffic. It was night now, and faintly drizzly, so that every light had a faint halo around it, shining in shades of street lamp yellow, brake light red, and all the rainbow tones of neon. The world smelled of hot asphalt, exhaust, human bodies, and the smoke and grease scents of fast food. Above it all, Ryou stood watchful, silhouetted against the flat black sky. He felt invigorated, ready for anything the world might throw at him. More than he ever had in his life, Ryou felt like a hero.

In an alleyway somewhere below him, Fubuki and O'Brien were keeping similar vigils. They didn't know yet where their quarry was going to strike first, or even if they were going to move tonight at all, so they were spaced out at various strategic points, ready to move as soon as they got the signal. All of them were outfitted with a relay system, courtesy of Edo's bag of tricks, so that they could keep tabs on each other at a distance. Edo had promised that absolutely no one would ever be able to eavesdrop on their conversations, and Ryou wouldn't be surprised if that were true. In the meantime, Edo himself was scouting across the rooftops with his usual cool flair, while Jim and Johan exercised their own particular talents at ground level. If there was anything out there to find, they would find it. As for the others...

Well, Asuka at least was being put to good use. The drawback to Johan's skill of astral walking was that he had to leave his body behind while he did it. It was currently tucked safely into the corner of the vacant office they were using as their headquarters, peacefully sleeping away while the rest of him wandered off on its own. As long as he was in that state, he was vulnerable to anyone who might happen upon him, so Asuka was there to stand watch over and protect him if anything should try to interfere. She hadn't been pleased by the assignment, but she had at least been willing to allow that someone had to do it. Juudai and Shou had been somewhat more sanguine about their position as radio controllers, which wasn't a strictly necessary job but at least they couldn't do any real harm while they were doing it.

Ryou forcefully pushed his worries out of his head. He'd never wanted to be a team leader. He'd always imagined himself as the lone hero, swooping in to right wrongs and then fading away again as quickly as he'd arrived, answering to no one. He didn't like having all these people underfoot.

 _No, that's not right. Be honest with yourself, Ryou: you don't like having them depending on you._

Ryou was, as Fubuki might have said, not a people person. He had never asked to take responsibility for anyone but himself. The idea of having a team of people, an uneasy mixture of people he barely knew and people he cared deeply about, counting on him to make the right decisions and tell them all what to do, was daunting. If this had been a solo mission and he had failed, he would have gone back to school humbled but prepared to work towards improving himself so that he would succeed next time. If he did something wrong and one of his companions got hurt, it would be his responsibility but they would be the ones to suffer for it. That was why he had tried so hard to keep people like Asuka and Edo out of the line of fire.

A vibration in his pocket jolted him out of his fretful thoughts, and he reached for the device he'd stowed there.

"What is it?" he asked.

Juudai's voice crackled over the speaker. "Johan says he's spotted something. Head five blocks east - it's the white building across from the shipping place."

"Understood," said Ryou. He ran a few paces and jumped, lofting easily into the air. "Where are the others?"

"Shou's calling Fubuki and O'Brien now. Johan's following Asuka. I'm going to call Jim and Edo soon as I stop talking to you."

"Do that," he said, and signed out.

Juudai's directions had been good. He found the shipping business, dark now but with a cheery yellow sign that read "Packin' It In!" plastered over the door. Across from the shipping business was a nondescript white building, without any sort of signage or ornamentation - just a flat white front of grubby bricks, a few windows too high and narrow to let anyone see inside, and a heavy blank door. There didn't seem to be any light inside. Ryou landed lightly on the roof. A moment later, Edo bounded over from the other direction.

"What are you doing here?" Ryou hissed. "You're supposed to be providing backup!"

"I'm supposed to be doing recon," said Edo amiably. "The badguys are here. I can't watch them if I'm somewhere else, now, can I?"

Ryou sighed. "Just don't do anything stupid."

O'Brien and Fubuki arrived moments later, which was good. They arrived by climbing up one of Asuka's invisible staircases, which Ryou thought slightly less good, but he supposed there was no point in arguing about it now. If he really looked, he could see the rest of the team hiding in an alley nearby, but at least they were _hiding_ and not trying to shove themselves into the fight.

"Are we sure this is the place?" Ryou asked his companions.

Edo nodded. "Johan went in and searched the place. This is some kind of medical supply warehouse, and there's a bunch of guys in there with checklists and flashlights, going through the boxes."

"Maybe they're just taking inventory?" Fubuki suggested, without much conviction.

Edo rolled his eyes. "With flashlights? What, are they trying to save on their electricity bills?"

Fubuki looked sheepish. "Well, they might be."

"I think these are our men," said Ryou. He tapped his communication device. "Somebody get me Johan on the line."

"He's here," said Juudai's voice, and then there was a scuffle.

"What's up?" Johan asked.

"We need to know the layout of this building," said Ryou.

"The front door is locked," said Johan. "The guys are getting in through a loading dock in back. There weren't any other entrances. The ground floor is all open, and there's a staircase on the right-hand side going in that leads up to some offices and storerooms. I didn't see anybody up there but you should be careful about it anyway."

"Noted," said Ryou. "We'll split up, then. O'Brien, Fubuki, guard the front door. Edo and I will go in the front and round up as many as they can. If any try to sneak out the front door, stop them. Asuka, how long do you think you could keep one of these characters incapacitated?"

She frowned. "I can keep one person still for about fifteen minutes before my strength gives out, but the more people I'm trying to control at once, the harder it will be. I don't think I could manage more than half a dozen without them just breaking out again."

"All right," said Ryou. "In that case, your job will be to keep them from swarming us all at once. See if you can funnel them a few at a time."

She nodded. "I ought to be able to manage that."

The five of them continued talking for a few moments more, refining their plans. Then, when Ryou felt they couldn't reasonably wait any longer, he gave the order to move.

A moment later, a thin man dressed in a black jogging suit came staggering out of the building, carrying a cardboard box. The weight seemed to be almost more than he could manage, and he wasn't paying attention to anything but where he was putting his feet.

Ryou's arm looped around his neck and jerked him backwards. The box slipped out of his hands and hit the ground with a glassy clank.

"Good evening," said Ryou calmly. "I wonder if you'd like to tell me where you're going with that box."

The man made an unintelligible strangled noise.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you," said Ryou, and loosened his grip just a bit. "Want to try that again?"

"Just... taking inventory..." the man gasped.

"I don't think so," said Ryou. "Edo, perhaps you can persuade him?"

Edo stepped into view, smiling sweetly and adjusting the collar of his pristine gray suit.

"Hi there," he said. "So, you don't want to talk to my friend, huh?"

"Uh, no?" the man replied.

Edo grabbed the man roughly by the shoulders and jerked him around.

"Now," he said, "you see my pal here? See how tall and serious and generally badass he looks? He looks like he could really mess up your day, doesn't he?"

The man hesitantly agreed that yes, Ryou did.

"Now," Edo continued in that same sweet voice, "do you want to know why he gave you to me? Because of the two of us, well... he might knock you around a little, maybe even break a few bones. But me?" Edo stood on his tiptoes to breathe right into the man's ear. "I might do something _creative_."

A few moments later, the man, having spilled everything he knew, was tied up in the back of the truck he'd been loading things into. Edo had done most of the tying up. In the time it took to get a confession, Ryou had caught and disabled two more men, likewise carrying boxes, and began tying them up too. They had the beginnings of a nice pile of annoyed thieves by the time they finally moved into the building.

Having decided that any chance of subtlety had been lost once they started taking hostages, Ryou decided that the best thing to do was to take the direct approach. He walked up to the door, and as he came to within about ten feet of it, he raised both hands, fired off two bolts of energy and blew the door off its hinges.

There was an instant of startled silence, followed by a great deal of yelling. Ryou couldn't see much in the dark warehouse, just a lot of dancing flashlight beams and flickering shadows. He fired a few more bolts at the ceiling, trying to up the level of chaos and keep them from having a chance to stop to think.

"Close your eyes," said Edo's voice behind him.

Ryou obeyed. The light level suddenly went up; apparently Edo had found the light switch. Ryou let his eyes blink back open. He'd been standing in the relatively well-lit outdoor area, where there were at least some street lights to see by. These people had been working in complete darkness for who-knew-how-long, and with the lights back on again, they were momentarily blinded. In that moment, Ryou and Edo went to work. Ryou fired off two more energy blasts. One went wild, but the second one hit one of the thieves and sent him staggering backwards into a heap of boxes. Edo, meanwhile, whipped a weapon out of his pocket - actually a thin piece of strong rope with a weight on one end, which he swung around with great precision, striking people with the weighted end or using it to entangle them and jerk them off their feet.

 _That's one I haven't seen before,_ Ryou mused as he wrenched a flashlight out of the hand of a man who'd tried to strike him with it. _I wonder how long he's been practicing that?_

It wasn't long before people began deciding that they were better off not standing and fighting. Someone broke ranks and ran for the front door to wrench it open. He took one step towards it and was instantly flung back by a powerful jet of water. Fubuki followed close behind him with O'Brien in his wake. People who had been thinking of going out the front door quickly changed their minds, probably because O'Brien was holding a ball of fire in either hand. Asuka slipped in behind them and began quickly putting her force fields into play, pinning down men who had already been stunned and holding them in place until one member of the team or another was able to move in and secure them. Ryou began to enjoy himself. This was what he'd always wanted to do, what he'd been born to do, and he was glad to be doing it.

And that, of course, was the moment it all started to go wrong.

* * *

"Everything seems to be under control," said Johan, as he stepped through the wall.

Juudai was not as bored with waiting as he thought he'd be, in large part because watching Johan do his thing was interesting. He could still talk when he was out of his body, and it was peculiar to see him walking around in one part of the room while his voice came out of his peacefully resting corporeal half. He'd been popping in and out of the alley they were hiding in, giving a running commentary on what was going on. Apparently he got tired if he stayed away from his body for too long, and they had been working him hard tonight. Now he seemed to be taking a breather. He pulled a water bottle out of the pack he'd brought with him and took a long drink.

"Want some?" he asked, offering the bottle to Juudai.

"I'm good," Juudai assured him. "Does all that walking through walls make you thirsty?"

"Kind of," said Johan. "It's tiring, anyway. You really have to focus your attention."

"So, kind of like having to pay attention to one of Professor Chronos's lectures?" Juudai joked.

Johan laughed. "Something like that!"

Juudai grinned. He'd decided by this point that he liked Johan. He hoped they'd have chances to work together again in the future.

"Is Big Brother okay?" Shou asked from across the room. Jim had produced a deck of cards from somewhere, and with his usual nonchalance, had talked Shou into playing a game with him. Of course, given Jim's particular skill set, it was no surprise that he was winning consistently.

"He looked fine last I checked," said Johan. He screwed the cap back on his water and set it aside. "Seemed to me they're having a good time knocking thugs around. Just what they planned to do. They should be done pretty soon, at the rate they're going."

"Too bad we can't watch," said Juudai wistfully.

"I'll check in again as soon as I've caught my breath," said Johan. "They're probably going to want me in a minute for healing, anyway."

"If you can watch, we ought to get to watch too," said Juudai.

Johan laughed. "Well, it's kind of different for me. No one can see me when I'm in spirit form."

"Huh?" said Juudai. "But I can see you just fine."

There was a sudden stillness in the alley. Juudai was aware that everyone was looking at him oddly.

"Well, I can," he said defensively.

"You're not supposed to!" said Johan. He sounded almost offended.

"I didn't know that," said Juudai. "It's not like I'm doing it on purpose."

"I want to test this," said Johan. "Okay, I'm going back out again. You tell me where you see me going."

Juudai shrugged. "Sure, if you want to."

"Please do," said Jim, sounding interested. "I want to see this."

Johan settled back against the wall and closed his eyes. His breathing began to slow. After a few seconds, he stepped out of himself, as easily as stepping out behind a curtain.

"Okay, you're out," said Juudai.

Johan looked surprised, or at least his spirit-self did. His physical body didn't move at all.

"Well, that's new," he said. "What do I look like?"

"Like you," said Juudai, "only I can see through you, and there's kind of a... a glow around you, all rainbows and sparkles. It's kind of pretty, actually."

The spirit Johan stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Well, what do you know. You're the first person I've ever met who could see me when I was in spirit shape. Is that your talent?"

Juudai made a face. "Geez, I hope not. No offense, but that's not my idea of useful talent, you know?"

"You know what this means, don't you?" said Shou. "It means you really do have some kind of powers."

Juudai brightened. "Hey, yeah, that's right! Only... there's gotta be more to it than that. They wouldn't have let me into the school if all I could do was look at people walking around without their skins on."

Johan laughed. "That's one way of putting it!"

Jim was frowning at Juudai, his expression thoughtful. "I think you're right, though. There's more to you than that. I can see the potential for it hanging around you like a big thundercloud getting ready to dump a load of rain down on us. I just can't get a fix on what it is."

"We'll have to experiment later," said Johan. "Right now? Kinda busy. Guess I'd better go check on the others."

He drifted through the wall. A second later, Juudai heard him gasp. Johan burst back through the wall in such agitation that he seemed to be throwing off sparks.

"You gotta get in there now!" he shouted, even as he began fusing with his body once more. "Something's really wrong!"

HR

Ryou looked up sharply at the sound of a door opening. He'd been in the middle of rounding up the last of the men on the ground floor and had just started to relax. Now he realized that he'd stopped thinking about the upstairs floors.

"Heads up!" he shouted to his team.

The men upstairs were shouting orders, too. One of them produced some sort of rifle and aimed it over the railing. Ryou stared at it, momentarily shocked. He knew guns. He'd been forced to study them extensively in his advanced classes. He knew a great deal about the many different types and what they could do to a person, but he'd never seen one like this. If he had to guess, he'd have thought it was some sort of dart gun, but...

Before he even had time to finish that thought, the gun went off. Ryou flung his arm up, reflexively trying to protect himself.

Asuka was faster. He heard a rubbery _twang_ , and opened his eyes to see a silvery blur strike an invisible barrier above him and go ricocheting away. Ryou raised a hand to shoot back, but Edo grabbed his wrist and yanked it back.

"Idiot!" he said. "Don't shoot till you're sure she's taken the shields down!"

Ryou winced. Of course he should have realized that the barriers worked both ways.

 _This is what comes of never working as part of a team before,_ he realized. He kicked himself for not practicing with them more when he had the chance.

O'Brien, unhindered by any sort of shielding, hurled a fireball up at the balcony. The man with the gun dove out of the way, but didn't lose his grip on his rifle. He fired again, blindly, shooting off two more darts. Ryou and Edo dove out of the way, but the shot passed harmlessly between them and thudded into the floor. Ryou noted with detachment that it _was_ a dart, filled with some sort of unhealthy-looking yellow liquid. He had a fleeting moment to think, _I'm glad I didn't get hit with that!_

Then all other thoughts were driven out of his head by a hoarse scream. His head whipped around in time to see Fubuki double over, clutching at his shoulder, where a dart was buried in his skin. He dropped to his knees and toppled over, writhing and gasping.

"Fubuki!" Asuka screamed, rushing to his brother's side.

"We got one!" shouted one of the men upstairs. "Come on, people, let's get out of here! Grab what you can get and go!"

They began rushing towards the doors. Ryou looked back and forth, torn between a desire to attend to his friend and a desire to stop the people who had hurt him. Vengeance won out. He hadn't come all this way to let someone hurt his best friend and get away with it. He made a flying lunge and managed to tackle one of the escaping men. Edo lashed his whipcord around another one, but there were still more coming. O'Brien, seeing their prey trying to escape, threw a rapid-fire series of fireballs at the fleeing thieves. One man was hit, and flung himself at the floor shrieking as he tried to roll out the flames. Others struck the walls, leaving scorch marks. One hit a heap of cardboard boxes, which instantly caught fire.

"Not helping!" Ryou shouted.

"I'd like to see you do better!" O'Brien shouted back.

Ryou struck the head of the man he'd caught against the concrete floor, knocking him senseless. He might have done worse than just stun the man, for all he knew, but just at this moment, he didn't care. He didn't care about being heroic or doing the right thing or even about delivering just punishment. At that moment, all that was in his mind was that someone had hurt his friend, one of the gentlest and most caring people he knew, and he wanted to hurt someone in response.

For the first time in his life, Ryou realized that he might be capable of killing someone.

He abandoned the still figure on the floor and began firing off rapid-fire energy beams, trying to stun a few of the fleeing thieves. As fast as he was, though, there were still a few who slipped past him.

"No!" he shouted. "Get back here, you...!"

There was a sudden commotion at the front door. The first thief to reach it had glanced back at the sound of Ryou's shout, and a long leg extended into his path and tripped him. He fell flat on his face, and two of his friends couldn't stop in time and stumbled over him. The others backed away, evaluating this unexpected obstacle, and Jim Cook stepped into the doorway. He tipped his broad-brimmed hat to Ryou.

"Need some help, mate?" he asked.

"Yes!" Ryou shouted back.

Johan shoved Jim aside, bowling over a few more thieves in his efforts to get inside.

"Coming through! Outta my way!" he shouted. He skidded to a halt next to Asuka. "Don't worry, I've got this. Help the others!"

She nodded, still looking stunned, and got up to move towards Ryou and Edo.

Juudai and Shou made it in last. Ryou felt a twinge at seeing them. They were absolutely helpless here, without even the sort of fighting skills Edo had to protect them. Fubuki had already been hurt. If something happened to Shou... No, he couldn't think of that. He had to get them out of here.

"You two!" he barked. "Help Johan get Fubuki out of here! He's hurt!"

The two of them nodded and hurried over to where Johan appeared to be trying - without much success, Ryou realized with a sinking feeling - to revive Fubuki.

 _What in the world was in that dart?_

With the addition of Jim and Asuka, there was finally enough manpower to get the last of the thieves rounded up and incapacitated. That was a good thing - the flames from the burning boxes were climbing rapidly, and the room was steadily filling with flames and smoke. The smoke smelled foul. Whatever was in those boxes, Ryou had a feeling it had never been meant for human inhalation.

"We need to get out of here, now!" he ordered.

Juudai and Shou were trying to hoist Fubuki onto their shoulders. He was taller than either of them, and they were forced to half-drag him. His head lolled; he seemed to have lost consciousness. Ryou refused to consider the other possibility. Fubuki was too strong, too _vital_ not to be all right. He'd get over this. Even now, Johan was walking with one hand resting on Fubuki's shoulders, eyes half-closed and faintly glowing as he channeled healing energy into Fubuki's body.

"We're going as fast as we can!" Juudai shouted back.

There was a bang and a flare of greenish flame. Ryou winced as bits of broken glass sprayed across the room. The fire had apparently reached a container of chemicals that were flammable. The flames were spreading more rapidly now. If something didn't stop them soon, this whole building would be destroyed.

"Damn it," Edo muttered. "Why did it have to be Fubuki they took out? We need him!"

Ryou was forced to agree. He looked up at the spreading flames with a sinking heart. This was turning into a fiasco - first he got his best friend poisoned, and now he'd managed, if only by way of one of his teammates, to burn down the building they were supposed to be protecting. He'd never felt like so much of a failure in his life.

"Keep moving!" he shouted. "Get these guys out of here if you can and leave them if you can't," he added, gesturing at the bound and in some cases unconscious thieves. "Get yourselves out first!"

"You don't have to tell me twice!" said Edo.

O'Brien said nothing. He was busily hauling criminals out the door two at a time, apparently unconcerned by the smoke and flames. Jim was dragging them out by their feet one at a time, and even his pet crocodile was grabbing men by the foot and hauling them backwards out the door. They were making what Ryou might have called speedy progress under other circumstances, but right now...

 _I don't care if they all die. I just want my team to get out of here safely._

Even as he was thinking that, there was an alarming creak. Ryou turned to see a section of shelving beginning to fall, as one of its corners burned and crumbled.

"Everybody move!" Ryou shouted. Edo, O'Brien, and Jim ran for the door. Asuka lingered, for good reason. She didn't want to leave her brother behind, and Juudai and Shou were still laboring to get Fubuki out of the building. Ryou dashed across the room, moving to snatch Fubuki out of their grip. Fubuki groaned at the rough treatment.

"Get out of here! Go!" Ryou ordered, already moving towards the door.

It was already too late. The shelf began to topple. Ryou stared. He could have tried to block it, but even with his enhanced strength, he knew he couldn't protect everyone else from the flaming fragments that would inevitably result when it struck him.

"Asuka, block it!" Ryou ordered.

She raised her hands, looking panicked. "I don't think I can! It's too heavy!"

The shelf continued to plummet down on them. Ryou watched it, thinking that this was how it was going to end. Fubuki and Shou and Asuka and Juudai were going to be crushed by a falling piece of furniture, because he hadn't been enough of a hero to stop it from happening.

The shelf crashed down on them, trailing smoke and fire. It stopped six inches from the top of Ryou's head. He stared at it. It continued to stay suspended there, and if he squinted, he could see a faint glow - no, _two_ glows, one blue, one pale green - holding it up. He turned his head and saw Asuka with both hands raised, face a mask of concentration as she worked to keep her shields in place.

And behind her, Shou also held up his hands. His expression was determined and oddly confident, as if he'd known he could do this all his life, as if this was merely an inconvenient part of his routine. Ryou nearly dropped Fubuki.

Juudai shoved him.

"Come on!" he said. "I don't think they can keep this up forever!"

Ryou started moving again. The five of them made it safely out from beneath the shelf and let it crash to the floor behind them. There was a gush of smoke and debris, but it sailed harmlessly over and around their shields. Juudai had to drag Shou the last few steps because he seemed to be nearly in a trance. In the end, they all made it out of the building, and found Edo and O'Brien shoving the last of the crooks into the back of their van.

"Is everyone all right?" Jim asked.

"Except for him," said Ryou, nodding to Fubuki. "Johan, is there...?"

"I'm trying," said Johan, sounding frazzled. "Whatever they shot him with, it's no ordinary poison. I can't get a handle on it."

"We need to get back to the island as soon as possible, then," said Edo.

"We need to make sure the police to show up," said O'Brien. He cast a meaningful glance at the truck full of bound bodies.

There was a crash from inside the warehouse. Flames and smoke began rising through a new hole in the roof.

"Don't worry," said Jim. "I think they'll know to come here."


	8. The Mighty Have Fallen

Shou slept most of the way home. Juudai didn't blame him. He would have slept, too, if he could have figured out where to start. He'd always been the sort who could nap any time, anywhere, but for once in his life, there didn't seem to be any sleep left in him. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the burning building collapsing in on itself, saw Fubuki lying helpless and groaning on the floor, saw that flaming shelf crashing down on him...

No, sleeping wasn't going to happen just yet. Juudai sat on the floor of Shou's bunk, leaning against the wall and watching his friend as he twitched faintly in his sleep.

"Bad dreams, buddy?" he murmured. "Don't be scared. Everything is going to be okay..."

Shou murmured something unintelligible, flapped a hand vaguely, and dropped into a deeper sleep.

 _Well, at least he believed it,_ Juudai thought.

He sighed. He'd always thought being a hero was something glamorous, even fun. He'd never thought it would be like this. They had won. They had caught the bad guys and stopped them from getting away with whatever they were doing. How did it all end up feeling like they had lost?

There was a tap on the door. Juudai immediately got up and went to answer it.

"Shh," he whispered. "He's sleeping."

"Ah, sorry," said Jim. He stepped away from the doorway, beckoning for Juudai to come out and talk to him. Juudai weighed his options for a moment before deciding that having someone to talk to would make him feel better than just hanging around with his thoughts and a sleeping friend. He slipped out of the room, closing the door gently behind him.

"How's Fubuki?" he asked.

Jim shrugged and shook his head. "No change. Johan's doing what he can for him, but so far nothing has worked. I don't think he's up to fixing this one."

"What was in that dart, anyway?" Juudai asked.

"We don't know," said Jim. "Johan says he's studied poisons but he's never seen anything like this. He's managed to get the pain dulled down, but he can't seem to wake him up. We're hoping Miss Ayukawa back at the school can do more for him."

"Geez," Juudai muttered. "I hope he's going to be okay. He seemed like such a nice guy..." An image flashed through his mind: Fubuki, bright-eyed and laughing, making snow for the first-years.

Suddenly Juudai was angry. He punched the wall hard enough to bruise his knuckles.

"It's not fair!" he said. "He didn't deserve it! He was a good guy!"

"He still is," said Jim. "Don't give up on him yet. He's going to have the best healers in the world working on him, and we caught the men who shot him. We'll find out what they used and we'll fix him up. Don't worry."

Juudai sighed. "Well, I _am_ worried."

Jim's expression turned gentle. "Well, that's no surprise. Today hasn't turned out the way we expected, did it? If I'm being honest, I'm worried about Fubuki, too. And about Ryou."

"Ryou?" Juudai repeated, puzzled. "Is he hurt? I thought he got away safe."

"He's not hurt," said Jim. "He's heartsick."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, this was going to be his big moment. He thought he was going to be his moment of glory, and now his best friend is hurt and he nearly got you and the others killed, and he had to be saved by his own little brother."

"He should be happy for Shou," said Juudai stoutly. "He finally found his talent after all this time."

"That's something else I wonder about," said Jim.

Juudai waited for his friend to continue, but Jim seemed lost in thought. He had reached over his shoulder and was scratching one of Karen's brow ridges. She made a contented noise. Juudai frowned a little.

"What do you wonder?" he asked at last.

"I'm wondering just what happened," said Jim. He still seemed to be off in his own world. He didn't look very happy there. There was a faint frown on his usually good-humored face.

"It wasn't anything weird," said Juudai. "The shelf was going to fall on us and Shou helped stop it. That happens a lot, right? Power manifesting under pressure? Professor Kabayama was talking about it in class one day."

"That happens," said Jim. "That's not the part I'm surprised about. What surprises me is that I didn't see it coming."

Juudai blinked. "You can't see the future, can you?"

"Not as such," said Jim. "But it's like I told you. I see potential. If there was any way to turn that situation around, I should have seen it. I _would_ have seen it." He shook his head. "I watched that thing start to fall on you, and I looked for anything that could have saved you all." He looked at Juudai, his gaze serious. "I didn't see anything. There was no way you could have survived. Shou didn't have that capability when he walked into that building... but somehow he did."

Juudai scratched his head. "I don't get it."

"That's what worries me," said Jim with a sigh. "I don't understand it either. My eye has never been wrong. That means either it's starting to fail me, or something mighty strange is going on. I'm not sure which one scares me more."

Juudai involuntarily glanced back over his shoulder towards the door to Shou's room. Something strange, happening to Shou? Juudai didn't like that idea any better than he liked finding out that Jim's power might be less accurate than they'd believed.

He wondered if he ought to be a little scared, too.

* * *

Yubel was vaguely aware that something had happened. There seemed to be a bit of noise out in the hall, at least, and it didn't seem to be the usual sort of noise. Things had been quiet ever since that last of the other subjects had gone away, but now there was a lot of shouting and carrying on. Yubel had the impression that something had gone wrong, and that people were busy blaming each other for whatever had happened.

For a moment, he wondered if he really wanted to know. On the one hand, it didn't seem to concern him, whatever it was. On the other hand, nothing had been happening to him lately, and he was growing bored. There had been nothing to do lately but practice walking around his room, getting used to the new body they had built for him. He'd discovered that his new wings, once they'd been unbound, were fully functional, and would even allow him to hover a little, though the ceiling of his room wasn't high enough for true flying. He hoped they would let him out someday soon, so he could try using his wings properly.

Very carefully, he slid off of his bed and crept across the floor. He couldn't stop his claws from scraping on the tile, but fortunately no one seemed to notice or care about the noise. He pressed his ear to the door and tried to listen.

More shouting. Someone saying, "Nobody's talked yet," and someone else insisting, "The major objective was accomplished. Sacrifices have to be made for the sake of..." And then someone else shouting over him, insisting that the whole job, whatever it had been, was a fiasco and that someone's head was going to be on a platter for this. Yubel frowned a little, wondering just what had gone so badly wrong. Listening further convinced him that someone had apparently been arrested, probably several someones, but for what cause he couldn't be certain.

After a while, the commotion simmered down, and Yubel reluctantly began shuffling back towards his bed. However, he'd barely made it there before he heard the sound of someone tapping in the code that unlocked his door. He looked up with a start, suddenly fearful that they were going to take out their ire by doing more experiments on him.

The man at the door wasn't dressed like one of the scientists, though. He wasn't one of the guards, either. He was wearing a suit, so he must have been someone important. Yubel felt a little thrill. Maybe it was finally time...

"Come on," he said. "The boss wants to see you."

"Boss?" Yubel asked. His voice sounded thready from long disuse.

The man rolled his eyes. "Yes, the boss. The guy who runs this place. Did you think we were doing all this just for the fun of it?"

"I thought you were doing it because you wanted me to have powers," said Yubel.

"Oh, and you think you're just so special that we gave them to you out of the goodness of our heart?" the man scoffed. "As if. Now, get moving before we make you move. We need you to smooth things over."

Yubel thought about refusing and decided against it. For one thing, there was no incentive for him to stay inside his cramped little cell. For another, he could see two guards standing in the hall holding electric batons at ready. He knew from experience what those batons felt like. He decided it wasn't worth the risk.

"Coming," he said, and started to walk.

They marched him down the hall and into an elevator, with the man in the suit in front and the two guards keeping behind him with their batons held ready. They looked uneasy around him. He didn't blame him. He knew his new claws looked formidable. He folded his wings and tried not to look too threatening.

The elevator they led him to carried them to a hallway, which he navigated clumsily with his strange new feet. The rooms that he glimpsed through the occasional open door seemed brighter and more well cared for. They looked like the sorts of places where people lived and worked instead of doing the kinds of gut-wrenching things they did in the basement level. It reminded Yubel dimly of what it had been like before he had come to stay in this place. He knew he hadn't always been a prisoner, but his memories of a life before this seemed very far away, like something that had happened to him in a dream.

The room he was finally delivered to looked like it had once been some sort of boardroom. It might still be, for all he knew. It was by far the most pleasant and peaceful room he'd seen in months. There was actual carpeting on the floors, photographs of tropical scenery on the wall, and though the curtains were drawn tight, there was sunlight trickling through the gaps. The center of the room was dominated by a long shiny table with many leather-upholstered chairs pulled up to it, though there was no one sitting there at the moment. Yubel stared hungrily at the photos on the wall. Academy Island was tropical, wasn't it? These might be pictures of the very place, for all he knew. Even now, Juudai might be sitting beneath those trees, looking out over that pristine blue ocean and wondering where his lost friend was...

A door at the back of the room opened, and Yubel looked up, expecting to see the man he'd been brought here to speak with. Or was Yubel to be displayed to him? But it was only a woman pushing a tray with coffee pots and doughnuts on it. Yubel shifted his stare to the doughnuts. The last time he'd had anything sweet to eat had been when Juudai had given him that candy bar on the bus. His mouth watered. Without thinking about it, he took two steps forward, reaching out to snap up one of the pastries, but his guards reached for their batons and he backed off with a whimper.

The door opened again, and this time everyone around him went tense. The guards snapped to attention, the man in the suit shuffled his feet and looked nervous, and the woman with the coffee cart immediately set a cup and saucer down at the table, right in front of the biggest and most impressive leather chair, and darted out of the room. A man walked in. Yubel stared at him.

He had not really taken much time, during his imprisonment, to think very much about the author of his misery. It hadn't really dawned on him that everything that had happened to him since he'd been taken off the streets had been caused by someone. If he'd taken time to think about it, he would have imagined a movie villain - someone powerful and menacing, or perhaps a wizened little mad scientist with a cackling voice and thin spidery hands. This man was neither. He was, in fact, surprisingly average - neither old nor young nor fat nor thin. He was perhaps a bit taller than most, though not enough to draw any special attention, and he was neither particularly ugly nor outstandingly attractive. His clothes were good but not flashy, a neatly tailored sports jacket over a dark turtleneck and gray slacks. He did wear narrow little glasses, as the mad scientist might have, but other than that there was nothing even remotely menacing about him. If Yubel had been meeting him under any other circumstances, he would have felt no qualms about stopping to ask him for directions.

The man settled into his chair. He helped himself to a doughnut, then sipped thoughtfully at his coffee. He stirred in cream and sugar. Everyone was silent. Yubel scowled at the delay.

"Can I have a doughnut?" he asked into the silence.

The man at the head of the table raised his eyes to look at Yubel. Everyone else in the room flinched, as if expecting an explosion.

"Gentlemen," said the man mildly, "please provide our guest with suitable refreshment."

There was a scramble as one of Yubel's guards hurried to fetch him three doughnuts wrapped in a napkin - one sprinkled with nuts, one jelly-filled, and one chocolate glazed. He began eating them quickly, before someone could take them away again. The man smiled a little, looking amused, even pleased.

"Well," he said, "it seems you at least have a healthy appetite."

"He's healthy," said his suited escort. "All the tests confirm it. He stabilized within twenty-four hours of his final treatment and he's stayed in good condition ever since. If anything, he's healthier now than he was before we picked him up."

The man's lips curved in a sardonic smile. "Well, that _was_ the point of the exercise."

The escort looked flustered. "Yes, sir, of course."

The boss turned his mild gaze onto Yubel, who raised his eyes and stared back. He didn't own a mirror anymore, but the bars of his bed were made of reflective metal, and he'd seen enough to know he had three eyes now - one teal, one orange, and one blood red one in the center of his forehead. He was well aware that it was a disconcerting gaze, but the boss returned it steadily.

"Well, I can see the physical changes have been impressive," he said. "Does he do anything other than look good?"

"He's got full flight capability," the escort offered. "He can throw fireballs. We think he's got some other talents, too, but we haven't been able to fully test them in the limited space we have available."

"Then why didn't you requisition _more_ space?" the man answered, showing signs of temper for the first time.

The suit looked uncomfortable. "We didn't... that is, there were other things going on..."

"Which you obviously didn't feel the need to keep me informed of," said the boss testily. He took off his glasses to rub his face with one hand. "Why must I be surrounded by fools? It's a wonder this whole place hasn't fallen down around our ears already. Bad enough that we lost a warehouse last night..."

"That wasn't our fault!" said the suit. "It was those kids! We weren't expecting anyone to send a batch of clueless newbies to stop us. I thought you were going to arrange for someone else!"

"I was," said the boss. His eyes glittered. Apparently he didn't like the implication that he had fallen down on the job. "I wasn't expecting anyone to send a batch of raw new recruits to step in first, either. It was entirely unprecedented." He sighed and took another sip of his coffee. "Well, it could be worse. At least the drug was successfully administered. I can work around the rest of the details. In fact, this might be better in some ways. I can see the potential. If nothing else, it might be educational to see how the drug affects someone whose powers haven't fully developed yet. Certainly it will be easier to infiltrate a place guarded only by has-been heroes and children who are still being taught to play hide-and-seek."

"You don't think the numbers will be a problem?" the suit asked. "I mean, there must be hundreds of students on that island..."

The man gave a bark of laughter. "You leave that to me. I'll make sure it all works out."

Yubel listened to this conversation with a feeling of mounting incomprehension and horror. An academy for young heroes could only mean one place. And this man had hurt one of them? More than one? Was Juudai all right?

The boss didn't seem to notice Yubel's reaction. He looked up at him and smiled, suddenly all charm.

"What's your name? Do you remember your name?" he asked.

"Yubel," said Yubel.

The boss nodded. "You have held together well, then. Well, then, Yubel, how would you like to go on a field trip? Stretch your legs a little - or wings, as the case may be?"

Yubel brightened. "Yes!"

"Good," said the boss. "I want you to pay a little visit to Academy Island."

* * *

The windows of Chancellor Samejima's office were oriented to catch the light of the setting sun. The view had been arranged so that a school official, working late, would get the full benefit of whatever daylight might still remain at the end of the school day. Now, though, it was early morning. The sun might be rising on the other side of the building, but for Ryou, the day was still dark and gloomy. He sat in a chair facing the windows, looking out over the flat dark ocean, and thought perhaps his world would never be bright again.

A shadow shifted against the lesser darkness. Chancellor Samejima had been looking out at the ocean as well, standing with his back to Ryou. He'd been that way for some time now, taking in the implications of what Ryou had told him. Ryou couldn't blame him. Telling Samejima how he had failed had been the hardest thing he'd ever done.

"Sir," he said at last, unable to bear the silence any longer, "if you don't need me for anything else..."

"No, no. Stay. Sit back down," said Samejima, turning to see Ryou half-rising from his chair. "We should probably talk about this."

Ryou pressed his lips together. "I don't know what there is to talk about."

"There's what happened to Mr. Tenjoin, for one thing," Samejima answered with surprising gentleness.

But that gentleness was lost on Ryou. He clenched his fists.

"I said I was sorry!" he snapped. He felt ridiculous, childish. Saying how sorry he was couldn't fix what had happened. But then, nothing could, so how could he be expected to do anything about it but apologize? What more did the man want out of him? For him to admit that he was an abysmal failure and not fit to call himself a hero?

Samejima looked at him with sympathy. "Ryou, I don't need you to apologize. If anything, I should be the one to apologize. I assumed that this would be a safe mission, nothing a beginner couldn't handle. If any of us had known about that poison they were using, we never would have allowed you to go on that mission. We did not prepare you properly, and no one can blame you for that."

"I should have prepared myself!" Ryou snapped. "My mission failed because I was so confident that I could handle anything that the world threw at me that I never bothered to prepare. I should have spent more time training. I should have spent more time working with my team, getting to know them, teaching them how to work together. If I had been doing my job properly, none of this would have happened. All of this is my fault."

Samejima looked at him a long time. Ryou wondered what he was going to say. Probably that he was being too hard on himself, that he shouldn't blame himself for what he didn't know and couldn't have controlled. Ryou found himself wanting to hear it. If someone told him often enough, he might start believing it.

"You might have a point," said Samejima. He sighed and shook his head. "Perhaps we expected too much of you too soon. You will continue your training, and we will see if we can't remedy some of your shortcomings."

Ryou's face fell. So, they really did believe that he was a failure. He tried not to let his feelings show on his face.

"Yes," he said, keeping his voice neutral, "I think that would be for the best."

Samejima came and set a hand on Ryou's shoulder. Ryou held himself very still, forcing himself not to shrug it away again.

"Don't be too hard on yourself," Samejima said kindly. "You aren't the only one to ever have a situation get out of their control. No one expects you to be perfect."

Ryou nodded, throat tight.

"I'd like to be excused," he managed, and stood up. Samejima hastily backed away to let him pass. Ryou walked out of the room, head held high and shoulders locked.

 _You're wrong,_ he thought, as he made his way down the hall. Classes hadn't started yet, and the building was empty and dark. _Someone did expect me to be perfect. Everyone did._

Samejima had been trying to be kind, but he didn't understand, or didn't want to think about the truth. People had been looking to Ryou as an idol for years. Everyone expected him to do great things. They had all been looking to him, watching his every move, wanting to be there to revel in it when he finally lived up to his potential. Instead, they were going to be reacting to his failure. There would be shocked whispers, snide insinuations, people gloating over how the mighty had fallen, people speculating and spreading rumors. No one was ever going to look at him the same way again.

 _And even if they looked the other way, I can't,_ Ryou thought. _I expected myself to be perfect, too._

Suddenly, he didn't want to be inside the school anymore. He didn't want to be on the island anymore. If he could have, he would have gotten off of the whole world as if it were a train he was tired of riding. He broke into a run, tearing down the halls as fast as he could go, skidding around corners, tripping over his own feet in a show of clumsiness that would have amazed anyone who'd ever known him. He didn't care. If he was going to disgrace himself, he might as well go all the way down.

* * *

Manjoume watched without much interest as the professor at the front of the room shuffled through his notes. Most of the students in school liked Professor Daitokuji - an easygoing, frequently absentminded man who never had a harsh word to say to anyone. If he had any powers, Manjoume wasn't aware of them - he'd never heard of him ever being part of an active hero team. If he did have gifts, perhaps they had something to do with his cat. There had to be some reason he insisted on bringing the animal to class, and for the fact that he occasionally addressed remarks to it, and seemed to expect it to talk back.

Despite all that, Manjoume usually enjoyed Daitokuji's classes. He taught advanced theory to the higher-level students once a week, but the classes Manjoume attended by him where something called "Practical Sciences". That was just a fancy way of saying that he was teaching them aspects of physics, chemistry, and similar subjects that might come in handy in the field. After all, there was only so much someone like Manjoume could do with lightning-throwing powers if he didn't have a clear idea of what sorts of things might conduct electricity, or might undergo a chemical reaction if he passed a charge through them. Sometimes he'd even get called up to the front to demonstrate. He'd blown up a test tube once. That had been fun.

Today, though, the class held no appeal for him. He leaned back in his seat, staring up at the ceiling while the teacher rambled on in his usual muzzy fashion.

The causes of his distress exchanged looks. One of them raised his hand.

Daitokuji looked up from his lecture. "Yes, Mototani?"

"Manjoume isn't paying attention," he said.

A few people in class started to snicker. Manjoume shot Mototani a look, and Mototani responded with his most innocent expression.

"I see," said Daitokuji. "Are you bored, Mr. Manjoume?"

"No, sir," said Manjoume, feeling his cheeks reddening.

"Good," said Daitokuji. "In that case, would you like to summarize the lesson for the class?"

Manjoume's cheeks burned even redder. "No, that's okay. I figure you've got it covered."

"Well, then, thank you for the compliment," said Daitokuji cheerfully. He obviously wasn't fooled by Manjoume's prevaricating but wasn't the sort to keep heaping on the humiliation just to make a point. He knew he didn't have to. Manjoume sunk down into his seat, all too aware that the rest of the class was watching him and no doubt silently gloating.

 _It's all their fault._

He resisted the urge to turn and glare at them. They would just glare back, and they had him outnumbered.

It wasn't fair. He'd trusted Torimaki and Mototani. He'd known them most of his life - the sons of important families that his family associated with. They'd been shoved together as small children, so while he wasn't always sure he'd be willing to call them _friends_ , he'd at least felt he knew them well and could rely on them. They had always been good allies, useful and more or less reliable. He didn't have to like them to count on them. They had been part of his landscape for almost as long as he could remember, and now, through no fault of his own, they had turned on him.

 _Why can't they understand that this isn't my fault? If anyone is to blame, it's that Juudai, not me!_

It was a relief when the bell rang, and he could slip out of the room and lose himself in the crowd. A few days ago, he would have been walking with his head high, but now he just wanted to avoid being asked any questions he couldn't adequately answer. By now, word had gotten around that he and his two sidekicks had been through a falling-out, and the prevailing opinion seemed to be that it had to be his fault. What's more, losing his two companions had brought it home rather forcefully that no one else seemed to want to take their places. Sure, he'd never really gone out of his way to make friends, but he'd always assumed that people respected him for his power and connections. Now he was getting a rude awakening. People seemed to be willing to forgive Torimaki and Mototani for any past offenses, laying all the blame squarely at Manjoume's feet.

As he made his way down the hallway to his next class, someone shoved him hard on one shoulder. Caught by surprise, he stumbled and smacked into the wall.

"In a hurry to get away?" asked a voice in his ear. Mototani. Manjoume gritted his teeth; apparently one incident wasn't enough for today.

"Guess he's just in a hurry to leave us behind," said Torimaki in a falsely light tone. " _Again._ "

"Leave me alone!" Manjoume snarled, whirling to face them. "I didn't do anything wrong!"

"You left us," said Mototani. "You dragged us out into that forest and abandoned us there."

"I didn't!" Manjoume snapped. "You went out there of your own free will..."

"It was your idea!" Torimaki insisted.

"But you went along with it," Manjome insisted. "And I didn't abandon you! You got your own stupid selves lost, and I went and looked for you!"

Mototani's eyes were dark and implacable. "That isn't how I remember it."

"Me neither," said Torimaki.

"But..." Manjoume insisted.

Torimaki shoved him again. "I never thought you'd sink so low, Manjoume. We were your friends."

"Some friend he turned out to be," said Mototani. "Come on. I don't want to be late for class because of _him_."

The two of them stalked off, shooting venomous glances over their shoulders at him. Manjoume stood stock-still in the hallway, letting the crowds of students flow around him as if he were a rock in a stream. If that had been true, that stream would have been boiling from the heat rolling off of him. He burned with the injustice of it. What was wrong with them? He _hadn't_ abandoned them, he was sure of that. He could plainly remember losing them and going to look for them. Why were they blaming him? It was their own fault they had gotten lost. If they had just done what he'd told them to, there shouldn't have been any problems.

There was something else in his mind, something that he couldn't quite get his head around. Whenever he tried to think of it, his consciousness of it skittered away again. His scowl deepened as he realized what was happening. He remembered going into the woods, and he remembered going out of it again, but what had happened in between times... there was a gap, and he had a feeling that if he could remember what was in that gap, he would know exactly what was going on.

 _This has to be Juudai's fault,_ he decided. _Him or one of his little friends. One of them must have powers they're not telling us about. We thought we'd play them so they decided to play us back._ Well, he wasn't going to stand for it, and he certainly wasn't going to stand for being taunted and mocked by his fair weather friends just because they wanted someone to blame.

That thought brought him up short. He really didn't want to go through another class putting up with them pouncing on every mistake he ever made or even looked like he was going to make. Why should he?

Manjoume turned around and began walking back up the hallway, going against the flow of students until he found one of the doors to the outside. Trying to look casual, as if this were something he was supposed to be doing, he pushed the door open and stepped out of the building.

It was better outside. All the students and most of the teachers were all indoors getting on with various classes. There was no one there to see Manjoume as he walked, head high and shoulders squared, up the path and towards the woods. Forget them. They weren't doing him any good. If he wanted this mess straightened out, he was going to have to do it himself, and he was sure that the woods were the place to look. If Juudai and his minions had laid some sort of trap for him, surely there would be some trace of it to see by the light of day. If that didn't work, he would try checking their dormitories to see if they'd left some evidence lying around. Hadn't he heard somewhere that Juudai and Shou bunked together? It would make sense if they'd hatched their plans there where there were no teachers to interfere or overhear. In fact, it might be a good idea to go and look there first, while he was sure they were still busy in their classes. Yet, even as he thought that, his feet kept carrying him towards the woods as if they had a mind of their own.

The forest looked much different by day than it did by night. He had explored it thoroughly when he'd first come to the island, looking for places where he could be alone. There were times when he tired of being notorious, after all, and when it was good just to be alone with his thoughts and the sound of the birds. By day, there were usually a few flowers blooming, and the trees looked elegant instead of intimidating. He began to feel a little more cheerful. Any fear that he or his companions (he needed to stop thinking of them as friends, obviously) had felt that fateful night had to be a product of their own imaginations. Surely there was nothing to be afraid of out here.

After a while, though, he began to be aware that the forest was losing some of its cheer. The flowers thinned out first. The trees seemed to cluster a little closer together, and the leaves seemed to be denser and darker than they had before. The warm, golden tropical sunlight took on a wintry pallor. Despite the fact that the trees were still green and the sky was still blue, if Manjoume let his eyes slide out of focus, he could start to believe that he was walking through a black-and-white photo of a forest instead of a real one. A sense of unease began to creep over him.

He stopped walking and forced himself to take a good look around him. Was there anything out of place? Was there anyone nearby? Was there, in fact, anything at all that could account for his steadily increasing sense that something was just not right here?

It took him a moment to realize that he was very close to the campfire circle. He frowned a little and started in that direction. There was something about the campfire circle, something he just barely didn't remember. He was half certain that if he just went and stood there, he would understand everything, and half convinced that if he went and stood there something terrible would happen to him. He ignored the second thought. He had come this far in search of answers, and damned if he wasn't going to get them!

The campfire circle was just as he remembered it: just a circle of half-rotten wood, frilled with fungus, sitting around a mossy ring of stones and a circle of charred wood and ashes. There was no sign that anyone had been there in years. He walked very carefully around the perimeter of the campsite, looking for any sign of human tampering. There was nothing, not even a footprint left behind by their previous adventure. Manjoume stepped over one of the logs and repeated his inspection inside the circle. There was still nothing. Manjoume stepped back out of the circle, found a good long stick, and used it to prod the ashes where the campfire had once been. A little puff of black soot wafted up. Something in the ashes twinkled.

 _What the hell?_

Cautiously, Manjoume poked at the ashes some more, but he succeeded mainly in just stirring up more ashes and obscuring whatever it was had seen. He made a frustrated noise and threw the stick aside. He crouched down next to the fire ring and put his hand into the ashes, reaching for the hidden object. His fingers touched something thin and hard and cold. He shook it gently, letting the ashes slide off of it, revealing something that sparkled like ruby and sapphire and jet, and Manjoume reeled back at the sudden impression that a human face was looking up at him. A split-second later, he realized that he'd found a mask. What was a mask doing in a campfire? It reminded him of something...

And then, just like that, everything went dark. He screamed as memory returned to him in a rush, and he knew he was trapped again. The darkness had lured him back again, and this time there were no friends to help him, no Juudai to come blundering in and save him...

"Yes, he is proving more difficult to catch hold of than I had expected," said a voice in the darkness.

Manjoume realized that he'd closed his eyes, compelled by some irrational reflex to try to escape the dark by creating a darkness of his own. Now he opened them, cautiously, wondering just what new and terrible thing had happened to him now.

It was still dark. It wasn't just the darkness of a dark forest with a clouded moon over it. This was a pure and perfect darkness, one with no north or south or up or down. He couldn't feel that he was sitting on anything, but there wasn't anywhere to fall, either. He was just floating, drifting in a world that was both infinite and empty.

Save for one thing. There was a boy standing in front of him. He should have been nearly invisible, dressed as he was in black and gray, but the darkness was so absolute that even those dark colors stood out clearly. He had a pale face, and pale violet eyes, and his hair was an uncertain greenish-blondish color that hung in feathery tufts around his fine-boned face. Under other circumstances, Manjoume might have allowed that he was reasonably good-looking, but there was something in the set of his eyes and the way that he smiled that made Manjoume wish there was an _away_ in this dark world so that he could escape to it.

"Who the hell are you?" he demanded instead, taking refuge in rudeness. When there was no way out, his philosophy went, try a bluff.

"My name isn't important," said the boy. "Even if I told it to you, you'd probably forget it. Everyone forgets."

"Why did you bring me here?" Manjoume asked. "I never did anything to you."

"No, you did not," the stranger agreed reasonably. "Not yet, anyway. That doesn't matter. All that matters is that you are available."

"What do you mean, available? I'm not doing anything for you," said Manjoume.

"You are," the boy replied. "One way or the other, you will. You are doing something for me now. You are visiting me. Here in this consecrated space, I can still reach out to other people." His pale eyes bored into Manjoume's. "If you refuse to help me, I may well decide to keep you here, so that you can keep me company."

"Here?" Manjoume repeated. He hated the way his voice had suddenly risen to a squeak. The idea of spending forever in this featureless dark place, with only this madman for company...

Of course, if he had to spend very much longer here, he'd probably go mad, too.

"Here," the boy agreed. "You haven't got the power to drag me to the surface. That isn't your gift. But there is someone else who might. We could make an exchange."

"Who do you want?" Manjoume asked. In the mood he was in, he could almost consider dragging Torimaki and Mototani out here again. It would serve them right for turning on him.

"The boy Juudai. He interests me," said the boy. "Bring him back to me. If you agree to do that thing, I will release you."

"And what will you do to him?" Manjoume asked warily. He was annoyed with Juudai right now, but there were some things you couldn't contemplate doing even to someone who annoyed you.

"I will not hurt him," said the boy. "I want his help."

Manjoume scowled. "What can he do for you? He's a normal."

The dark boy laughed. "Oh, is that what you think? You couldn't be more wrong. He has tremendous untapped power, and it is that power that I need. Bring him to me, and I will make you friends forget that they are angry with you. Everything can go back to the way it was."

"But you'll keep Juudai?" Manjoume persisted.

"I will release him, once he has done what I need him to do."

Manjoume frowned. There had to be a catch here somewhere. He didn't trust this boy any further than he could throw him, if such a thing as distance even existed in this weird place. Still, if it was the only way to get out...

"Sure," he said. "Fine. I'll get Juudai for you if it will make you happy."

The boy nodded. "Hold out your hand."

Manjoume did as he was told, grudgingly. The boy reached for it and shook it. For a moment, Manjoume felt a sense of searing cold, as if his strange new friend had been concealing an ice cube in his fist. After a second or two, though, the sense of cold faded, and Manjoume felt only a surprisingly normal hand, slim but strong, the skin cool and soft and dry. The boy let go.

"I have placed my mark on you," he said. "As long as it remains, you will be able to remember me, and you will know what you need to do. When the mark fades, you will forget all about me, but I will not forget you, and I will know you have forgotten. And then you will be sorry that you broke your word."

Manjoume swallowed hard. "Understood."

His new friend nodded. "I will be waiting here for you. Do not disappoint me."

Then he reached out and abruptly pushed Manjome, hard, as Torimaki had just a few minutes ago. Manjoume was caught by surprise, and he stumbled backwards, and...

...tripped over one of the logs. He sat up dazedly, brushing leaves and crumbled shelf fungus off his clothes.

"Well, that was weird," he muttered.

Had it all been some sort of weird dream, after all? Had he stumbled over a log and gonged his head and hallucinated the whole thing? That seemed more likely than finding a face in the ashes and talking to some sort of specter in a lightless otherworld. Shaking his head at his own folly, he stood up, deciding that it would be a good idea to continue his search for answers somewhere else.

He got to his feet, continuing to brush debris off his clothes. He seemed to have picked up a good amount of soot while he was stirring around in the cold fire pit. He spat in his hand and tried to scrub some of the streaks of black off his skin. He didn't want to go back to the school and find someone asking him why he was covered in soot marks.

There was one black mark on the palm of his hand, in the spot where he'd thought he'd felt that strange sense of coldness. It looked like a mask with a sharp nose and wickedly slanted eyes.

No matter how he scrubbed at it, it wouldn't come off.


	9. Changes

It was quiet in the Academy Island infirmary. The only student checked in at the moment was Fubuki, who lay motionless on a bed, his eyes closed. Juudai peered at him from around the edge of the door, wondering if this visit was really such a good idea. Fubuki was obviously in no condition to appreciate visits from anybody. Also, Asuka was there, silently keeping vigil, and he wasn't sure she would appreciate company either.

His mind was made up for him by the arrival of the nurse, Miss Ayukawa, from the hallway behind him.

"Oh, are you here to see Fubuki? Don't be shy," she said. "He's not awake right now, but I'm sure he'll be happy to know you were concerned about him, once he wakes up."

"He's going to wake up?" asked Juudai, louder than he'd intended. Asuka looked up at him with a stricken expression.

"He's going to wake up," Miss Ayukawa assured him. "We're keeping him asleep on purpose right now while he heals. He'll wake up when he's feeling better, I promise."

Juudai blushed. "Oh, ah, I didn't mean... Well, I mean, I'm glad he's going to be okay."

Miss Ayukawa herded him over to Fubuki's bedside, opposite to Asuka.

"Now, make your visit quick," she said. "You don't want to be late for class."

Then she bustled off, leaving him staring awkwardly at Asuka.

"Uh, hi," he said.

She gave him a wan smile. "Hello, Juudai. It was nice of you to come visit."

He shrugged a little. "I guess I just wanted to see how he was doing. Is there any change?"

"Not really," she said. She looked down at her sleeping brother. It was strange, Juudai thought, to see him so still. He had the impression that Fubuki was not the sort to spend a lot of time quiet and motionless. "The doctor says they've never seen anything like the stuff he was injected with. They're still trying to figure out what it is and how to counteract it." She bit her lip. "I'm really worried about him. He seems all right while he's sleeping, but when he wakes up, he's in so much pain, and no one knows why..."

"They'll figure it out," Juudai said, trying to sound confident. "These guys, they're supposed to be the best in the world, right? If anyone can do it, they can."

"I know," she said, and sighed. "But I still worry."

Juudai looked back down at Fubuki.

"Yeah," he said. "I'm worried too." He clenched his fists. "I wish there was something I could do to _help_."

"Me, too," she said. She offered him another faint smile. "It's nice that you care, though."

A head popped around the door of the infirmary. It was Shou, looking rushed.

"There you are!" he said, hurrying in to grab Juudai's elbow. "You'd better hurry up, or you're going to be late for... oh, uh, hi Asuka."

"Hello, Shou," she said. "Don't let me hold you up. I've got permission from the chancellor to stay here with Fubuki today instead of going to class."

Juudai got up. "See you later, then," he said, and let Shou drag him out of the room.

"What's the big hurry?" he asked, as Shou continued hauling. "We're not that late for class yet, are we?"

"No," said Shou, rolling his eyes, "but we're having open combat again today!"

"Oh!" said Juudai. "Gotcha."

And he did. It had been three days since that disastrous trip to the mainland. This would be the first day in which they had actually been allowed to use their abilities in battle. They were going to be playing the token game again today, or so Chronos had promised, and that meant that for the first time, Shou was actually going to have a fighting chance at, well... fighting. That thought made Juudai smile just a little. Whatever else may have gone wrong during that fiasco of a trip, it had certainly made Shou a happier student. He'd made himself almost intolerable for the first day or so, wanting to show everyone his new trick. Of course, he hadn't fully gotten the hang of controlling it yet, so there had been some minor property damage involved, but even that hadn't managed to dampen Shou's mood.

Juudai, for his part, was trying to be supportive. Shou was, at this point, probably his best friend. Juudai wanted to be happy for him - _was_ happy for him, in fact. He was glad to see Shou's confidence increasing as he gained skill in using his new talent. If it had been up to him, Shou would have been the world-record setter for S-levels and impress the hell out of everybody. All the same...

 _Why couldn't it have been me?_

He _knew_ he had a talent now. It was so close, just within his reach. If he let his mind go blank and approached it sidelong, he could almost get the shape of what it must be. He felt like he did when he'd been watching mystery movies on TV, and the detective announced that he knew who the murderer was, while Juudai was still completely at sea. He had a sense that he'd been given all the clues, but what they added up to eluded him. And yet, if he could have just put it all together, he felt sure that he could have changed the outcome of that awful night. Maybe he could have saved Fubuki. Maybe he could have at least stopped the building from catching fire. Instead, he'd been doing little more than tagging along while Shou pulled himself together and became a hero.

Shou seemed to notice his lack of enthusiasm, and slowed down his jog down the halls to turn and look at him.

"Something wrong?" he asked. "Are you worried about Fubuki?"

"Yeah, kinda," Juudai admitted. "I was just thinking... I wish I could have done more, you know? I feel like I was just kind of sitting on the sidelines while everyone else did stuff. Even the crocodile was more use than me."

Shou's expression softened. "You were a lot of help, Juudai."

"How do you mean?" Juudai asked.

"Well," said Shou, "you were the one who found out they were going in the first place. You were the one who talked us into going along. If you hadn't done that, Asuka and I wouldn't have even been there, and if we hadn't been there, Big Brother would have gotten shot too, probably, and Asuka and I wouldn't have been anyone there to keep him and Fubuki from getting squashed when that shelf fell. So when you look at it that way, you really saved everybody."

Juudai brightened. "You think so?"

"Sure I do," said Shou. "Even if you don't know what your powers are yet, you're a... a whatchamacallit. An _instigator_."

Juudai blinked. "Is that like an alligator?" An image of Jim's pet flitted through his mind.

Shou smiled and shook his head. "It's a person who makes things happen. That's what you do. You stir things up so things can happen that wouldn't have if you didn't."

"I had a hard time following that last bit," said Juudai, and laughed. Shou laughed too.

 _Things that wouldn't have happened,_ Juudai mused. _Isn't that kind of what Jim was saying about..._

Before he could finish that thought, Shou grabbed him and started hauling him again.

"Now, come on!" he said. "Or the thing you'll make happen is getting us both detention!"

"Yeah, I guess we don't want that to happen!" said Juudai, and picked up the pace. He'd have plenty of time to try to figure out the answers to his mysteries later.

The rest of the class, happy to be having activities that day instead of a lecture, was nearly as anxious to get started as Shou was. A few of them were, in fact, looking interestedly at Shou as he entered the classroom, having heard of his miraculously sprouting powers in the nick of time, but not having had a chance to see them in action yet. They sat impatiently through the usual lectures on how to behave during a training exercise, and then surged to the back of the room to wait for the doors to the training hall to be opened. Once inside, Chronos swiftly sorted them all into groups. Juudai was a little disappointed to learn that Shou wouldn't be on his team today. This time, his team consisted of Manjoume, the brawny boy who turned into a dinosaur, his friend the dark-haired little girl, and a small and rather frail-looking boy that Juudai didn't know.

"Hey," said Juudai, ambling closer to him. "Haven't met you before. I'm Juudai! What's your name?"

The boy mumbled something indistinct. The girl smiled and said, "This is my pal Marty! He's strong but he's really shy." She wrapped both arms around one of his, either out of affection or because she wanted to make sure he didn't slink away.

"It's Martin, actually," the boy murmured.

"Well, nice to meet you, Martin," said Juudai. "So, what is it you do?"

Martin made more inaudible noises. Juudai cocked his head.

"Sorry, what was that?" he said.

Martin looked irked. He took a deep breath and replied, " _ **I SAID I SHOUT AT PEOPLE!**_ "

Juudai gave a yelp and clapped his hands over his ears, as did several of the other people in the area. Shout was right - when he raised his voice like that, the sound of it went through Juudai's ears like a jackhammer.

"Wow," he said. "You sure do."

"It's why he doesn't talk much," said the girl, with the pleased expression of an owner who has just seen her dog do a trick. "I do most of his talking for him. I'm Rei, by the way. Nice to meet you!"

"And I'm Kenzan," the brawny boy added, thrusting out one of his large hands to shake. "I guess you've seen what I can do already."

"Sure did," Juudai agreed. "It's kinda hard to miss."

Manjoume did not seem interested in socializing. He'd been standing a little apart from the rest of the group, his arms folded, glaring at them as if their existence personally offended him.

"This is terrific," he said. "I'm glad we're all getting along. Can we start talking about the game now? Because I really don't intend to lose this time around, and that means I don't need you people screwing things up for me."

"Don't listen to him," said Juudai. "He's just a grouch."

"I kind of figured," said Rei.

As Chronos began moving around the room, handing everyone their tokens, Rei began removing several silver circlets that she'd been wearing around her neck and wrists. She piled them neatly in a corner.

"Worried about losing your jewelry?" Juudai asked her.

She shook her head. "These aren't jewelry. They're power governors."

Juudai gave her a blank look. "They're what, now?"

"Power governors. Restraints. Professor Daitokuji invented them," she said. "Which is good. A couple of years ago, before he did, I wouldn't even be in class. I'd be locked up in a room somewhere getting private lessons."

"I don't follow," Juudai admitted.

She gave him a serious look. "I'm a mind controller. I can make people think they want to do things for me, whether they want to or not. I'd be too dangerous to just let wander around loose. The cuffs help. As long as I'm wearing them, I can't influence anyone by accident. They're not perfect but they help enough that it's okay for me to come out and do stuff."

"Wow," said Juudai, suitably impressed. What must that have been like, if up until a couple of years ago she couldn't help but keep twisting people's minds, even if she didn't want to?

"My parents wore earplugs a lot," she said, "and left me with an old deaf grandma sometimes. It doesn't work if you can't hear me. That's one reason I hang out with Marty. If he doesn't like what I'm telling him he can just shout over me."

"It could be worse," said Kenzan. "There's a guy called Saiou up in the Blue Dorm who's so strong even the cuffs don't help him much. He has to live in this whole special room made out of the stuff, and he hardly ever goes outside because it's so hard for him to control himself. If anyone wants him, they have to go visit him."

"That's sad," said Juudai, and meant it. It would be terrible to be cooped up all the time, never to sit in the sun or dangle your feet in the ocean or pick the tropical fruits that grew here and eat them right off the tree. He couldn't even go out and find his friends if he got lonely, which he must do a lot, being sealed in a room all the time.

Rei nodded. "Someone told me he takes all his classes virtually through a computer. Poor guy."

"Enough chatter!" shouted Chronos, his voice cutting sharply through the hubbub in the room. "Does everyone have their tokens? You know the rules, correct? Very well, then. Planning sessions begin... now!"

Everyone began to huddle together while they considered how best to use their advantages. Even Manjoume overcame his reluctance to talk to anyone else long enough to start working out some sort of strategy. Actually, Juudai thought, he was a pretty good leader when he got over his attitude for a few minutes. Clearly, his desire to win overcame his desire to sneer at his teammates. Between the five of them, they hatched what seemed to be a viable plan of attack, and by the time the starting signal went off, they were itching to get moving.

As soon as the game began, Kenzan shifted to his dinosaur shape, and crouched down long enough for Rei to scamper onto his head. This she did with the ease of long practice. It was clear the two of them were friends, and had done this many times just for the fun of it. Once she was up, the two of them went lurching across the floor in the direction of their drop box. The team had mutually agreed to take a risk and give Rei all of their tokens. The idea was that Kenzan's superior height and strength would keep most people from ever getting anywhere close to her, and her skill at persuasion would keep the rest of the attackers away. Juudai, meanwhile, was making his way around the perimeter of the room, with Martin by his side. Their task was for Martin to use his shout to paralyze anyone they got near, at which point Juudai (who'd be plugging his ears in self-defense at the crucial moment) would then dart in and swipe any medals he could lay hands on. Manjoume would be doing something similar on the other side of the room, stunning people with low-powered lightning bolts and then rifling their pockets. It was a good plan, and it wasn't long before Juudai had collected a respectable handful of tokens. He began to have high hopes that his team would manage a first-place finish this time around. At the very least, they were likely to make the top five again.

He should have known better. The game hadn't been going on for very long before Juudai realized that his teammate was in trouble. He gestured for Martin to stop, and the two of them looked at the other side of the room, where Manjoume had gotten himself into difficulties.

It was, of course, Mototani and Torimaki. They had set out an illusion of several of the other students, their tokens just visible as the ribbons dangled from their pockets, presenting too good a target to pass up. Manjoume had duly gone after them, and as soon as he had, the illusion had vanished, and Mototani had portaled in to bowl him over. Now the two of them were sitting on him, one holding down his arms and the other crouched on his chest while they systematically stripped him of his tokens.

"We gotta go help him!" said Juudai.

Martin looked doubtful. "But we'll lose all the tokens we got already..."

"Doesn't matter," said Juudai. "He's our teammate. Come on."

Without waiting for a response, Juudai went pelting across the room, dodging the array of fireballs, energy beams, and weirder projectiles that always flew thick and fast during these games. He thought he was getting pretty good at it. One thing was for sure - he was one of the few people he knew who'd managed to never get hit. He skidded on a patch of water someone had left on the ground (making him think briefly and painfully of Fubuki), bounded over one of the trenches in the floor, and began scampering up a construction of roughly hammered-together lumber that made a crude but climbable framework.

He found Edo perched at the top, scouting the lay of the land.

"Whoops!" said Juudai, remembering immediately that Edo wasn't exactly the most kindly disposed towards him.

Edo's eyes narrowed. "What are you doing up here?"

Instead of answering, Juudai pointed at Manjoume, who was still being held down by his two ex-comrades. They seemed to have finished removing all his medals, and were now simply taking their time to gloat. A couple of others, apparently their teammates, had come over to enjoy the show. One of them lobbed a bubble of something pink at him, which splattered over his face like glue, making him cough and sputter. The others laughed.

Edo shook his head. "I see. Well, all right, then. Just this once."

Before Juudai knew what was happening, Edo had grabbed him around the waist with one arm. The other arm lashed out, flinging a cable around one of the overhead beams, and the next thing Juudai knew, they were swinging across the room like Tarzan and Jane. Juudai gave a delighted whoop.

They landed a few feet away from Manjoume. Edo released Juudai just before they fell, giving him the room he needed to make a solid landing if not a graceful one. Edo, of course, landed with perfect poise. Juudai didn't waste any time - he just gathered himself up and flung himself at Torimaki, who was the one holding Manjoume's hands down. The two of them toppled over sideways and went rolling across the floor, pummeling at each other. Juudai gritted his teeth and held on. Torimaki wasn't a strong boy - he was used to letting his illusions do all the work - but Juudai was a rough-and-tumble type who was used to physical activity, and that gave him the advantage.

At the moment Juudai had launched himself, Edo had flicked a cable out and looped it around Mototani's neck. He gave it a jerk, and Mototani went "urgh!", clutching at his throat. Then he opened a portal and dropped floor. The cord, which had been wound loosely enough to keep from choking him, unspooled as he fell. He came out a few feet away, falling clumsily out of the air and landing with a stagger.

Manjoume sat up, blazing with anger. Lightning bolts snapped around the room, somehow curving around Juudai and Edo to hit everyone else in range. Juudai flinched and let go as Torimaki twitched in pain and surprise.

There was a sound of someone whistling. Juudai looked to see Martin catching up to them, running across the room as best he could. Juudai caught what he meant at once.

"Edo! Manjoume! Ears!" he ordered, demonstrating by jamming his fingers in his own ears.

The two boys looked baffled but they did as they were told. The others reacted with a bit less haste, which meant that a moment later, they were curled up in stunned pain as Martin screamed at them. Juudai couldn't hear too clearly with his fingers stuffed in his ears, but he had a feeling that Martin was annoyed and calling them a few words he would have normally been hesitant to use in a school situation. The instant the noise died down, Juudai and Edo moved to grab at Torimaki and Mototani to start taking back all the medals they'd stolen from Manjoume - plus a few extra for their troubles.

"Go on!" Martin shouted at the rest, not quite using his ear-blasting shout but definitely making himself heard. "Get out of here! Leave us alone!"

They backed off, anxious not to get caught in that blast a second time. In the midst of all the chaos, Juudai, Martin, Edo, and Manjoume found themselves inside a little circle of relatively peaceful space.

Manjoume got to his feet, looking slightly dazed. Juudai didn't blame him. Even with your ears covered, getting shouted at by Martin was a dazing experience.

"You okay?" Juudai asked him.

Manjoume, characteristically, glared at him. "What was that all about?"

Juudai shrugged. "You were in trouble. We came to help. You're our teammate, aren't you?"

"Huh," said Manjoume. He gave Juudai a long, measuring look. "Is that so?"

"Sure," said Juudai. "Any time."

"Don't ask questions," said Edo unexpectedly. "I think that's just how Juudai is. He jumps in and rescues people."

Juudai was surprised. It seemed like a rapid turnaround from the last time he'd really talked to Edo.

"Huh," said Manjoume. And then, surprisingly, "Well, thanks. But don't think this gets you off the hook for the rest of the game. We've still got more medals to grab."

And then, before anyone could even try to continue the conversation, he turned and darted back into the crowd.

Juudai turned to look at Edo. "So, what was that all about?"

"Search me," said Edo. "I don't know anything about how that guy thinks."

"I wasn't talking about him," said Juudai. "I mean you. Why did you jump in to help us? We're not on the same team."

"Maybe I've just changed my mind about you," said Edo mysteriously. He turned his back on Juudai. "Anyway, Manjoume's right. We've got a game to play."

He, too, darted off into the crowd. Juudai watched him go, wondering. Then he shrugged. "Well, Martin? What do you say? Feel up to grabbing a few more medals?"

Martin nodded, and together the two of them flung themselves back into the fray again.

On the far side of the room, Rei and Kenzan had made it safely to their goal and deposited the team's five starter tokens. Having managed this successfully, they were now stomping around the playing area, hassling other groups of students in hopes of grabbing a last few tokens before the game was over.

"Hey, Martin," he said, "I think we'd better head for the goal before someone manages to catch up to us."

Martin nodded, his face showing clearly that he liked this plan. He was a small boy, and even though he and Juudai had been sharing the burden of carrying all the medals they were winning, he positively clanked when he moved. He seemed to be getting a bit out of breath, too, from all the running around they were doing.

Juudai was just waiting for Martin to finish chunking the last of his tokens into their drop box when he became aware of a commotion. To be more accurate, he became aware of one more specific commotion, because there were quite a lot of them going on at the time. The only reason that this one caught Juudai's eye was that Shou seemed to be somehow in the center of it.

"Come on!" he said to Martin, and went chasing across the room.

The found Shou being harassed by one of the older students, a bespectacled young man with spiky reddish hair and a somewhat haughty mien. Juudai hadn't been formally introduced to him, but he was under the impression that his name was Amon. He was notable for having control over air and clouds, and he was proving it now by conjuring up an indoor thunderstorm. It wasn't very big, only about two yards across, but it was throwing off miniature lightning bolts that were still strong enough to stun. Shou had one of his shields up - Juudai couldn't see it clearly, but the rain rolling off of it marked the place where it had to be. It might well have been good for keeping rain away, but lightning passed through them as if they weren't there. Shou was starting to look a little singed.

"Hey!" Juudai shouted. "Quit picking on him!"

"Juudai!" Martin hissed. "You can't just go around rescuing everybody! He's not even on your team!"

"I'm not rescuing everybody! I'm rescuing my friend," Juudai insisted.

Amon turned to regard him blandly.

"And what," he asked, adjusting his glasses to pin Juudai with a look, "do you propose to do to me?"

"I don't know! I'll think of something!" Juudai shouted back. He watched Shou, behind Amon's back, trying to collect himself. The floor was slippery with rain, and he seemed to be having trouble walking without falling down. Juudai kept talking, trying to keep Amon distracted. "I just know I'm not going to let you keep picking on my friend!"

"I'm not picking on anybody," said Amon reasonably. "This is the way the game is played. If he can't defend against my attack, he either needs to learn how or find another line of work. And if you can't handle that fact, I'd advise you to find another line of work as well."

His hand moved, almost too fast to follow, and the storm cloud surged and spat out a fork of lightning. Juudai ducked and it whizzed harmlessly over his head to strike one of the obstacles behind him. Juudai grinned.

"Missed me!" he taunted.

Amon's face creased into an expression of annoyance. "I won't miss a second time." He took a step closer, losing interest in Shou as Juudai goaded him. Martin stepped bravely forward, drawing in a breath to shout, but Amon tossed another bolt at him, making him squeak and back away.

"You stay out of this. I'm wise to your tricks," said Amon. "Now, are you carrying any medals, I wonder?"

He took another step, the storm cloud growing and darkening behind him. Juudai felt the hairs on the backs of his arms rise in response to the electricity.

 _Now would be a really good time for my powers to do something!_ he thought.

Immediately, there was a _twang!_ , and something struck Amon in the back of the head. He jerked, stumbling forwards, and Juudai took the opportunity to scramble away. He probably didn't need, to, though. Amon had already lost interest in him, and was looking around for the source of the projectile.

Behind him stood Shou, staring at his hands and looking confused.

"Did you do that?" Amon demanded.

"Maybe?" Shou squeaked.

Amon scowled. "Well, you'd better not do it again, or I'll..."

Even as he began advancing on Shou again, Shou held out his hands as if to defend himself. There was another _twang_ , and everyone, Shou included, watched in surprise as a bolt of blue-green energy sprang from his palms and smacked Amon in the stomach. Amon was caught flat-footed and toppled over backwards.

"Time!" Chronos shouted. "Everyone deposit your tokens!" Everyone regretfully began simmering down. Shou stared a moment, shrugged, and then hastily grabbed a handful of tokens out of Amon's vest pocket and scurried away.

"Well, that was weird," Juudai muttered.

He rejoined his team next to their goal box and waited with interest to see the results. He was gratified to see that they'd come in first this week. Shou's team had also done very well, coming in third. Considering that the second-place team had included Edo and Jim, he thought that was pretty remarkable. He hoped he and Shou would have a chance to celebrate a little later. He thought they could both use a reason to celebrate.

But it was not to be. As soon as the points had been tallied and everyone had been herded back into the classroom, Chronos took Shou aside.

"Mr. Marufuji," he said, "I want to see you after class."

Shou looked stricken. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, no, you misunderstand me," said Chronos, holding up his hands and trying to seem reassuring. It wasn't doing much. Shou was shrinking backwards, trying to disappear into the wall. "I just want to consult with you about a small matter."

"What kind of matter?" Shou asked. "Is it because I shot at Amon? I didn't mean to. It just sort of happened."

"You aren't in any trouble," said Chronos firmly. "There's just... something I want to check on. Remind me, how high were your S-levels? In the low hundreds, yes?"

"A hundred and thirteen," said Shou promptly. He looked glad to have a concrete answer to something.

"Hm, yes," said Chronos, looking thoughtful. "Well, it's probably nothing, but I still want to check. I'm sure it won't take long."

"Well, okay," said Shou, looking mystified.

Juudai patted him on his shoulder. "I'll catch you later, okay? Good game!"

Shou mustered a smile. "Yeah. Thanks for coming to bail me out."

Juudai waved goodbye to his friend and started for the hallway. He wondered just what Chronos was all worked up about. He hoped it wouldn't get Shou into trouble, whatever it was.

He was about halfway to his next class when he became aware of a dark shadow next to him. A faint chill crawled down his spine, a dim memory of something he'd almost managed to forget, something about a boy in a dark forest...

Then Juudai turned his head and realized that Manjoume was walking beside him.

"Oh, hi," said Juudai. "What's up?"

"You saved me," said Manjoume, glaring at him as if that were an accusation. "Again."

"Well, yeah," said Juudai. "I couldn't just let them keep picking on you like that. They were being pretty harsh."

"You still didn't have to save me," Manjoume persisted.

Juudai shrugged. "You were my teammate. What was I supposed to do, just leave you there?"

"You don't even like me!" said Manjoume. He sounded angry. There were spots of red color rising in his cheeks.

"Hey, calm down," said Juudai, holding his hands placatingly. "Geez. If I knew you were going to get all worked up about it..."

"You came for me that other time, too," said Manjoume. "When we were in the woods, and that guy got me."

That brought Juudai up short. Yes, he did remember now. It was strange how he had let it slip out of his mind.

"Yeah," he said soberly. "Yeah, I did."

Manjoume shook his head. "You have some kind of hero complex."

Juudai laughed, a little nervously. "That's nothing strange about that in this place, is it?"

"We need to talk," said Manjoume. "Not here, though. Someplace nobody is going to listen in - especially not those two clowns Torimaki and Mototani. Do you know someplace private?"

Juudai thought quickly. "There's a tunnel through the shrubbery near the front of the school. Shou and I found it our first day. Can you meet me out front after class?"

Manjoume nodded. "Fine. See you then. Don't make me wait or I'll change my mind."

He picked up his pace and threaded his way into the crowd until he was lost from sight. Juudai stared after him, frowning slightly.

"Weird," he said.

One thing was for sure, though. He wasn't going to miss being there when Manjoume finally explained what this was all about.

* * *

"Something very odd is going on."

Chancellor Samejima looked up from the report he'd been reading to see Chronos standing in front of his desk.

"Don't do that," he scolded. That was the problem with working with someone who was capable of bending time: he had a habit of appearing out of seemingly nowhere whenever he wanted to be somewhere in a hurry.

"I'm sorry, but I thought you'd want to know," said Chronos. His expression was uncharacteristically grave. Samejima was used to his most senior professor looking aggrieved, or outraged, or even downright furious, but this sort of solemnity was something rare.

"Well, then, what can I do for you?" Samejima asked.

"Are you aware of Shou Marufuji?" Chronos asked.

"Ryou's younger brother? Of course," said Samejima. "Is he doing all right? I know his brother has been under some strain lately..."

"No, that isn't the problem," said Chronos, sounding testy. "At least, I don't think he has anything to do with it. The problem is that young Mr. Marufuji has suddenly started developing powers right and left."

"Well, what's so strange about that?" asked Samejima. "It runs in the family, I suspect. We wouldn't have admitted him to the school if he hadn't had some potential in that direction."

Chronos snorted. "I'm sure you know he suddenly started creating force fields while he was out on that mission with his brother."

"Yes, indeed. One of the few good things to come out of that event, or so I hear," said Samejima. "I understand he saved several lives that night."

"I can't speak for that," said Chronos primly. "I can say that he's been quick to master the art of creating shields. Now, in class today, he suddenly started throwing energy beams around."

Chancellor Samejima sat back in his chair. "Well, that is unusual, to have two such strong talents settle on one person. He really must take after his brother."

"One might think," said Chronos ominously. "Now, look up his student records. Tell me what his S-levels are registered as."

"Professor Chronos," said Samejima, "why don't you just come out and tell me..."

"Humor me," the professor replied.

Chancellor Samejima sighed. With a few quick keystrokes, he brought up his database of student records and typed in Shou's name. The file opened before him, showing all of the boy's student records: name, age, registration date, previous educational and disciplinary records, and, of course, his S-levels. Samejima stared, frowning slightly.

"One hundred and thirteen," he said slowly.

"One hundred and thirteen!" Chronos agreed. "I looked them up myself, and the boy confirms it. With power levels like that, he should be lucky to conjure up a bit of light or have slightly enhanced speed. Instead he's using the powers of someone with three times his S-levels."

"How can that be?" Samejima murmured. He had never in his life heard of someone having such strong talents with such low S-levels. It didn't seem possible.

"How indeed," said Chronos grandly. He was on a roll now. "So after class today, I had young Mr. Marufuji accompany me to the infirmary and have his S-levels tested again." He fixed his watery blue eyes squarely on Samejima's. "They registered at three hundred and fifty-two."

Samejima sucked in a breath. He had never, in all his years, heard of someone's S-levels changing. The level you were born with was the level you died with, no exceptions. There had to be some mistake... but where it might be, he couldn't imagine. Their tests had always been accurate, so far as he knew, and he had a hard time imagining the kind of confusion that would cause someone to write "113" as "352" on multiple documents. It didn't make any sense.

"Chancellor," said Chronos, resting both his hands on Samejima's desk, "there is something very odd going on in this school. First we have that boy who registers the most unheard-of S-levels and yet doesn't manifest any visible powers, and now we have a boy with practically no S-levels at all who is suddenly manifesting powers he has no business having. Surely you can see that something is developing here."

"Well, I don't know about that," said Samejima slowly. "So far as we know, these are two unrelated incidents. I'll grant you, it's strange that we should have the two of them so close together when noting like this has happened before, but..."

"Excuse me?" said a hesitant voice.

Both men turned to see Miss Ayukawa standing in the doorway. She was biting her lip nervously, as if afraid to say the wrong thing.

"Miss Ayukawa," said Chronos haughtily, " we are in the middle of an important conversation."

"One that you might be able to shed some light on," said Samejima, causing Chronos to deflate. "Did you help the professor here to test Mr. Marufuji's S-levels?"

"Yes," she said. "That's part of what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Only part?" Samejima prompted.

She nodded. "After he left, I was checking on Fubuki Tenjoin to see how he was doing, and I thought, well, since I already had the equipment out, it couldn't hurt to check. I didn't think I'd find anything, but..."

"What did you find?" asked Samejima, but with a creeping feeling that he knew.

"His S-levels," said Miss Ayukawa. "They've changed."


	10. The Fate of Heroes

The target exploded, bursting into slivers of smouldering wood. The one next to it soon followed, and then the next, vanishing one by one like a string of firecrackers. Ryou raced along his homemade obstacle course, leaping over fallen-log barriers or ducking beneath extended branches, climbing over heaps of rock and leaping walls, all the while keeping up a steady barrage of laser bolts as he picked off targets one by one.

It wasn't making him feel any better.

He reached the final stretch, where the targets were placed so thickly together that he had to fire a single continuous beam in order to hit them all and run at the same time. He gritted his teeth and barreled forwards, putting all his anger and frustration into the movement.

He nearly ran into someone. He swore and skidded to a stop. The intruder jumped aside at the same moment, landing and rolling across the leafy ground to land in a crouch a few feet away.

"Geez," said Edo, brushing stray leaves off his suit. "When they said you were training here, I wasn't picturing anything so violent."

"Don't just jump out in front of people," Ryou scolded.

He was not feeling charitable towards Edo at the moment. On the one hand, he had no logical reason to be angry at him. On the other hand, it was true that he hadn't wanted Edo to come along on that disastrous trip. He'd believed what everyone had always told him: that having great powers made him special, and he'd privately harbored the notion that he was superior to Edo because no matter how much Edo trained himself, he'd be limited by his own physical capabilities. He was fun to train with, yes, but he'd never be as much of a hero as Ryou was, and it behooved him to quietly accept that. Instead, he'd tagged along on that fateful trip and pulled his weight as well as anyone there, and better than some. He had nothing to be ashamed of about his performance. Ryou had been the one who'd fallen flat on his face, and Edo had been the one to shine. That was a hard thing to swallow, and Ryou didn't like having Edo here to remind him of it.

"I didn't jump out in front of anybody," said Edo reasonably. "I was just standing here. You were the one who came barging over here."

Ryou scowled. "Your commentary is not appreciated. What are you doing here?"

"You don't have to bite my head off," said Edo, looking affronted. "I just came to check on you, that's all. You weren't in class. Someone said you were doing some solo training, so I came looking for you."

"You mean you came to gloat," said Ryou sourly.

Edo looked genuinely surprised. "And what, exactly, would I be gloating about?"

"Because I was wrong!" Ryou snapped. "I was wrong about bringing you, I was wrong about bringing Asuka, I was wrong in thinking I could do everything myself, and I was wrong about being able to handle _one - simple - mission_!"

Edo regarded him levelly. "All right, maybe you were. That doesn't mean I came here to gloat."

Ryou just glared at him. Edo sighed.

"Look," he said. "There's one simple thing you're forgetting: I was there too. I couldn't do anything to fix things either. Hell, neither could Jim, or O'Brien, or any of the other people there. None of us managed a stellar performance that night."

"None of you were supposed to be the leaders," Ryou replied. "It was my responsibility."

Edo shook his head. "That's not what being part of a team means."

Ryou sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I know, but... I expected more of myself. People expected more of me, and I've let everyone down. Especially Fubuki."

"Well, hanging around out here in the woods is not going to make anything better," said Edo. "You know what you need? Some professional advice."

Ryou gaped at him. "You think I should see a shrink?"

"No!" said Edo, emitting a bark of startled laughter. "I mean... have you ever actually met Saiou?"

Ryou paused, considering that notion. He'd heard Edo talk about Saiou plenty of times. While Edo had not been overly forthcoming with details, Ryou got the impression that the two of them had been close friends for a long time. Everyone had heard the rumors whispered about Saiou, some of them so patently implausible that Ryou had paid no attention to them, but even the tamest said that Saiou was a force to be reckoned with. He was one of the more mysterious figures on campus, and if Ryou had possessed a more curious nature, he probably would have gone looking for him long before now. As it was, he had only accepted that Saiou wasn't interested in challenging Ryou for his status as top student on campus, and he'd left things at that.

"No," he said. "I've never met him."

"Well, now's a good time," said Edo. "He always sorts me out when I have a problem, and he's never steered me wrong before."

"Do you really think he'd be willing to help me?" Ryou asked. He'd assumed that Saiou's famously unsociable nature meant that he wasn't interested in talking to people - people who weren't Edo, anyway.

Edo shrugged. "Knowing him? He already knew I was going to suggest this to you and has the tea things all laid out. He likes visitors. He's just not good at dealing with a lot of people at once. He can't take the noise."

Ryou wasn't sure how to respond to that, so he only murmured, "I see."

"Anyway, just go knock on his door," said Edo. "The worst he can do is tell you to get lost, right?"

Ryou nodded slowly. It went against his grain to ask someone else for help... but then, Saiou wasn't just anyone, was he? He was something of a legend himself. He, of all people, might understand the pressure Ryou felt.

"All right," he said. "I'll do it."

Edo grinned. "Had a feeling you would."

Ryou got directions to Saiou's hideaway, and set off towards the Blue Dorm with his spirits cautiously rising. He supposed that even if he didn't get any answers out of this trip, it might at least be a sorely needed distraction.

A short walk later, he found himself standing outside the door of a room, wavering on the verge of knocking. Saiou's room was at the top of one of the Blue Dorm's towers, in a room he'd always vaguely assumed was meant for storage if he'd thought about it at all. He hadn't realized anyone actually lived at the top of those towers. The door was closed, and looked very solid, as if the regulation white paint that covered it hid something more robust than the standard oak that the other doors were made of. When he touched it, it felt cold. He jerked his hand away quickly.

 _Do I really want to meet a man so dangerous that they lock him at the top of a tower behind an iron door?_ Maybe some of those wild tales he'd heard about Saiou's powers weren't so wild after all...

Still, the thought of what Edo would say to him if he turned tail now steeled him. He raised a hand to knock.

"You may enter," said a voice from within. "You'll find the door unlocked."

 _Well, that's unnerving,_ thought Ryou wryly. Still, he tried the knob and found that it turned smoothly. He took a deep breath and let himself inside.

He wasn't quite sure what he'd been expecting. Something sterile, perhaps, all white walls and hospital beds, perhaps with some monitoring equipment. But it wasn't anything like that. Yes, the walls were white, but they were hung with tasteful artwork, and the floor was covered in a deep plush carpet in a rich shade of purple, rather than industrial tiles. The furniture he could see was a dark wood coffee table, its surface polished to a mirror sheen, and a matching sofa and wingback chairs whose upholstery matched the carpet. There was even a little electric fireplace putting out a comfortable glow. The curtains were drawn, but there were lamps in the corners shedding a warm light that was easy on the eyes. Also, as Edo had rightly predicted, there was an elegant tea service set out, white china decorated with a pattern of ivy leaves.

The room was, in short, a perfect match for the man who occupied it. Ryou had always heard that Saiou was physically delicate, and he had therefore imagined the man himself as pale and scrawny, a near-invalid, perhaps even bedridden. The real Saiou, however, was nothing of the sort. It was true that he was pale, but that was probably just a result of not getting outside very often. He was slender but not at all sickly-looking, only graceful and elegant and slightly ethereal. He wore his hair very long, in a sleek curtain of deep blue, fading to nearly sky-blue at the roots and culminating in a tuft of pure white near his forehead. He had been pouring tea when Ryou stepped inside, but when Saiou raised his eyes, Ryou realized that the room had been designed to match them. They were violet, and glowed faintly.

"Please," said Saiou, "come in. Close the door behind you, if you'd be so kind."

Ryou silently did as he was told. One of the chairs had been drawn up close to the fire, and Saiou directed Ryou toward it with a wave of one slender hand. He wore his fingernails long, Ryou observed, so that they resembled claws. Ryou realized that for all his elegant appearance, this was not a man who wanted to hide how dangerous he was. He was beginning to see why Edo and Saiou got along. They had that same surface urbanity over a core of steel.

"Do you care for tea?" asked Saiou.

Ryou shrugged. "Are you going to read my tea leaves?"

Saiou's smile was inscrutable. "I wasn't planning to, but I could, if you like. I find it an imprecise means of divination. I do, however, enjoy a good cup of tea."

He raised the teapot to fill one of the cups. With a gesture, he levitated the cup and saucer and sent them gliding serenely to land on a little table next to Ryou's chair.

"Sugar?" asked Saiou blandly. "Lemon? Cream?"

Ryou realized he was being tested, to see how he would react to these blatant displays of power. If he said yes to any of these things, they'd come floating across the room like the enchanted tea service in some fairy-tale movie with princesses and talking squirrels, which would make him feel ridiculous, but he'd feel like a coward if he said no.

"Lemon," he said decisively.

He was not surprised when a little dish of lemon wedges presented itself to him. He selected one, and the dish politely put itself back on the table. Saiou looked faintly approving.

"I am glad to see you aren't easily intimidated," he said. "Perhaps we can get along. I know Edo speaks very highly of you, but you can understand why I'd want to sound you out for myself."

Ryou raised an eyebrow. "I thought you knew everything already."

Saiou simply smiled. "It would be more accurate to say that I have access to information. Whether or not I choose to retrieve it is another matter. For dealing with people, it's more rewarding to inspect them personally."

"And I pass muster?" Ryou asked.

"You might," said Saiou. He sipped thoughtfully at his tea. "I am reserving judgement until you tell me what you came here to learn."

"I came because Edo said you could help me," Ryou replied. "I didn't come here to learn anything specific."

"Then you have a problem," said Saiou. "You cannot move forward unless you are seeking something. If there is nothing you want to know, you can't help but stagnate."

Ryou frowned. That was an uncomfortably bald way of putting it. At the same time, he had the suspicion that Saiou was right. This whole situation had come about because he'd casually assumed he knew everything he needed to know already. So, what did he want to know now?

"I want to make sure nothing like this ever happens because of me ever again," he said.

Saiou shook his head. "Then you are asking to be perfect. Even I can't tell you how to do that."

Ryou scowled, but he couldn't argue.

"Then tell me..." he said, and paused, weighing his options. When it came down to it, there was really only one thing he could ask. "Tell me how to help Fubuki."

"Ah," said Saiou, looking satisfied. "That is a proper question."

He rose gracefully from his seat, his long hair shifting behind him to fall in a sleek satiny spill. His footfalls were silent on the thick carpet. He moved with a stately slowness, like an acolyte approaching an altar, as he made his way to a nearby desk and withdrew a deck of cards. Ryou stared at them with interest. The cards were longer and narrower than the average deck of playing cards, and there seemed to be a lot more than was standard.

 _Tarot cards? I'd almost have preferred the tea leaves._

If Saiou was picking up on Ryou's thoughts, he gave no sign of it. He carried the cards back to the table and began shuffling them. He laid them out in a neat pattern, though one that made no sense to Ryou, and began turning them over one by one. Ryou leaned forward, trying to make sense of the odd pictures they revealed. They looked like nonsense to Ryou, but Saiou contemplated each one as if reading some message in them.

"Interesting," he said. "This situation is a great deal more complicated than you understand, Marufuji Ryou. There are forces moving here that have never been seen before, and some that have been long forgotten. Are you willing to challenge them in order to get your friend back?"

For a brief moment, Ryou felt a stab of something like panic. He'd failed so badly against ordinary humans with purely scientific weapons. What was he going to do with these forces Saiou was talking about? But then he steeled himself. He needed to put this mess right.

"Whatever it takes," he said.

Saiou smiled thinly. "I had a feeling you'd say that."

He tapped one of the cards on the table, and Ryou leaned in for a better look. It appeared to be a crowned man, standing surrounded by golden coins. From his perspective, it was right side up, which would make it upside-down from where Saiou sat. Ryou dimly recalled hearing somewhere that this had some significance to Tarot readers, and he suspected it was probably something bad.

"This," said Saiou, "is the King of Pentacles. He represents someone you will need to bargain with in the near future. Someone is going to offer you something, and you will have to find a way to get what you need from him, because he is the key to attaining your desire."

"I see," said Ryou dubiously. "So all I have to do is wait around for this King of Pentacles to show himself? How will I know who he is? I'm assuming he won't actually be wearing a crown."

Saiou shook his head. "He will be a stranger - someone from outside the island - but someone you know well by reputation. He will be a man of some authority. I daresay you will recognize him when you see him. The offer he will make you will be fraught with risks. You will lose much by accepting, but you will also gain the thing you need so badly - the one thing that will fill the need you feel so keenly."

"Hmm," said Ryou dubiously. "And you're sure about this?"

Saiou raised his eyes. He was smiling. It was not a reassuring smile.

"I," he said, "am so powerful that they have locked me in this room to keep me from overwhelming every other person on this island and turning them into my unwilling slaves, and you are asking me if I am sure."

Ryou met his gaze coolly. "I'm guessing that means you are."

"Yes," said Saiou, his smile relaxing into something a little more real, "I suppose that means I am."

Ryou took a long drink from his tea, feeling as though he'd scored a point. It was good tea, he realized. He should have been paying more attention to it.

"Well, thank you for your input," said Ryou. "I'll keep it in mind."

Saiou took a sip of tea and daintily dabbed at his lips with a cloth napkin. "It won't matter if you do or not. Destiny has a way of happening whether you're paying attention to it or not. But thank you for visiting. It grows rather dull here all by myself, and other students tend to be frightened of me for some reason."

Ryou gave a small smile of his own. "I can't imagine why."

"There is no accounting for taste," Saiou agreed.

Ryou finished his cup of tea and even managed to make a bit of polite small talk. For all Saiou's clairvoyance, the nature of his gilded cage seemed to make it difficult to get a good view of the island's goings-on, and he seemed to enjoy hearing about some of the small daily events. By the time Ryou left, he was feeling almost relaxed again. He thought he could see why Edo liked this Saiou character. When he wasn't trying to test your boundaries, he was oddly restful company.

 _Perhaps I'll drop in again sometime,_ he mused, as he closed the metal door behind him. At least now he had a plan of sorts. It was rather soothing, knowing that he had something he could do, and that he didn't need to do it yet. It took the pressure off for a while. All he had to do was wait.

 _I just hope this King of Pentacles turns up soon. Until then, Fubuki, just hang in there. I'll make this right for you somehow..._

* * *

Juudai lay on his back among the twigs and dry leaves, looking up at the sky. It was a clear, cloudless blue, marred only by the occasional bird flitting overhead. The air was warm, and full of the sounds of the wind in the trees, the ocean whispering against the beach, and students chattering and laughing somewhere comfortably far away. It should have been pleasant, even comforting, but Juudai found himself subtly annoyed by it all. How could the world look so bright and cheerful when so many bad things were happening? Fubuki was in the hospital, Asuka was worried sick, Ryou was miserable enough to be skipping class, and Shou was... well, Juudai didn't quite know _what_ was happening to Shou, only that the teachers seemed worried about him and they had taken him out of class for no clear reason. That didn't seem right. Yes, it was interesting that his powers were finally starting to manifest, but this was a school for people with powers. They shouldn't have been worried about something like this. It should have been practically an everyday occurrence for them, so why...?

The bushes rustled sharply. Juudai sat up, shaking leaves out of his hair, and saw Manjoume scrambling on hands and knees through the shrubbery.

"Took me long enough to find this place," he grumbled.

"I told you where to find it," said Juudai. "It's not my fault you couldn't."

Manjoume did not bother to dignify this with a reply. He just pulled himself into a sitting position and began picking twigs out of his clothing while muttering to himself. Juudai thought he looked rather agitated, as if he might turn and run if he heard a loud noise. He wondered what had Manjoume so worked up.

"So... you wanted to talk to me?" he said, when several seconds had gone by without anything else happening.

Manjoume gave him a long, speculative look.

"I don't know," he said. "I'm still trying to figure out what your deal is."

"What do you mean, what my deal is? I don't have any sort of hidden agenda, if that's what you mean. I'm just me."

Manjoume shook his head. "Nobody is _that_ simple."

Juudai shrugged. "Well, I am."

Manjoume just snorted. "Yeah, right. Tell me another one. If there wasn't something weird about you, I wouldn't be in this mess."

Juudai just regarded him patiently, eyes wide as he waited for Manjoume to get to the point. Manjoume sighed.

"Look. Just level with me," said Manjoume. "Is this all just a big joke? Something you set up with your friends to mess with me? Or get back at me for something? Because if it is, I'm blasting your sorry carcass all the way back to Japan."

"I have _no_ idea what you're talking about," said Juudai.

Manjoume stared at him a long time, sizing him up. He must have passed muster, because Manjoume finally sighed and looked away.

"Okay," he said. "Do you remember what happened in the woods that night, back when we were playing capture the flag?"

"Kind of," Juudai admitted. "It's all a little blurry. There was a guy there, right? A really creepy guy, wearing all black."

"Yeah," said Manjoume, looking uncomfortable. "You saw him too, huh?"

"I think you and me must be the only ones who did," said Juudai.

"Yeah," said Manjoume. He fidgeted with a bit of a twig, breaking it into smaller and smaller pieces. "The thing is, he's still in there."

"That isn't the only place he's been hanging around," said Juudai. "I saw him on the boat over, too. The funny thing is, I don't think anyone else could see him."

"Yeah, I think I would have noticed if I'd seen him," said Manjoume, showing a hint of his usual sardonic tone.

"I wonder why we're the only ones who seem to notice?" said Juudai. "I mean, what's he got to do with us?"

"I don't know what he's got to do with you," said Manjoume. "What he's got to do with me is that he's asked me to help him get at you."'

Juudai sat up straighter. "What?"

In response, Manjoume held up his hand, and Juudai leaned forward. What he'd thought was a smudge or bit of dry leaf picked up on the crawl through the bushes, he now realized, was actually something similar in nature to a tattoo. It was black as ink, and looked rather like a carnival mask, sharp-featured and menacing.

"What's that?" Juudai asked.

"He said it was his mark, so he could keep track of me," said Manjoume. "He said I had better bring you to him, or he'd make me sorry."

Juudai just stared. "What does he want me for?"

"I don't know! He didn't exactly explain himself to me," said Manjoume, frustrated. "He seems to think there's something special about you, and he wants you to do something for him. That's all I could get out of the guy."

Juudai scowled. "That's stupid. If he wanted me to do something for him, he should just ask."

"Hey, don't look at me," said Manjoume. "I'm just the messenger."

"So what's got you all worked up? All you had to do was tell me," said Juudai.

"Well, yeah, but..." Manjoume shifted uncomfortably, his fair complexion going red. "Look, you've gotten me out of a couple of tight spots before, so I figure I owe you, and this guy gives me the creeps..." He raised his eyes defiantly. "I just don't know whose side I'm on. I don't want to make the wrong call."

Juudai regarded him thoughtfully. "So if you decided you weren't on my side, you'd just hand me over? And you decided to tell me about it even though you aren't sure?"

Manjoume squirmed. "Yeah, well..."

"Personally," a brisk voice interjected, "I'd like to hear more about this mysterious person you're thinking of turning someone over to."

Juudai and Manjoume both jumped. While they had been talking, Misawa had come up behind them and was now looking at them with rather smug disapproval, as if he thought he'd caught them getting up to something they shouldn't have been.

"How'd you get in here?" Manjoume demanded.

"He walks through stuff," said Juudai resignedly.

" _And_ I have x-ray vision, don't forget," said Misawa. "Not that actual x-rays have anything to do with it, but that's the commonly accepted terminology, imprecise as it is. Anyway, I saw you two huddled here and it seemed like you were talking about something serious, so I came to see what you were up to."

"You shouldn't butt into other people's private conversations," said Manjoume irritably.

"You shouldn't go skulking around looking like you're up to something on an island full of people aching to do some heroics," Misawa replied. "That's just asking for someone to barge in on you."

Juudai had to admit that this was probably a good point.

"Do you want to help us, then?" he asked.

Misawa looked rather pleased to be asked. Manjoume made a face.

"What are you asking him for?" he demanded. "This is between you and me!"

"No, I think Juudai had it right the first time," said Misawa.

"You would say that," Manjoume grumped.

"I'm not being selfish, I'm being practical," said Misawa. "From what it sounds like, you two are planning on rushing off looking for trouble and trusting that you can beat it into the ground when you find it. That _is_ how front-line heroes tend to behave. But I'm not a front-line hero, I'm support, and there is a reason why nearly every high-profile hero team has at least one support member. It's so that someone on the team, at least, has some idea what everyone is getting into."

"We already know what we're getting into," said Juudai. "We've run into him two or three times before."

Misawa raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really? You know who he is? What his powers are? Any weaknesses he might have? What his agenda is?"

"Well, no," Juudai admitted.

"I see," said Misawa. "You sound very prepared."

Manjoume scowled. "You think you could find that stuff out for us?"

"It's possible," said Misawa, with a show of modesty. "Tell me what you know now, and we'll go from there."

Manjoume still didn't look thrilled by the idea, but Juudai saw no harm in it. As far as he was concerned, the more people they had on their side, the better off they would be. He still remembered only too clearly what had happened to them at the warehouse. They had gotten into trouble because they hadn't known what they were getting into. If they had known more ahead of time, Fubuki might be awake and having fun now, instead of kept in an imposed sleep because he wouldn't stop screaming if he wasn't. Knowing something more about this dark figure in the woods would only do everyone good. If Misawa could help, Juudai was all for letting him. He spilled out everything he knew about the situation. Manjoume listened sulkily for a while, but couldn't resist putting his own two cents in whenever he felt that Juudai wasn't doing an adequate job of explaining. Misawa, for his part, listened intently, asked pertinent questions, and generally behaved as though he were interested. Juudai found it rather gratifying to see that the longer he talked, the less sure of himself Misawa looked.

"Well," he said at last, when Juudai and Manjoume had finally run out of details, "I have to admit, you're in something deeper than I thought you were."

"What did you think we were up to?" Manjoume snapped.

Misawa shrugged. "I'd assumed you'd managed to stir up some sort of rivalry with some of the other students - probably someone you'd decided to prank who wanted to get back at you."

"That's what he thought it was too, at first," Juudai offered.

"Oh, shut up," Manjoume grumbled.

"Yes, well, it's a reasonable inference," said Misawa. "Though judging by what you've told me, there's another more obvious solution here."

Manjoume gave him his best skeptical look. "You wanna enlighten me, then? Because I'm pretty sure nothing about this situation makes sense."

"I think I'll leave it as an exercise for you," said Misawa.

"So you mean you don't actually know," Manjoume concluded.

Misawa looked mildly offended. "Well, of course I don't _know_. Let's say instead that a likely avenue of research presents itself to me. Give me a couple of hours, and I'll wager I can find out something."

"Fine," said Manjoume. "If you don't find out anything, though, we're dragging you with us when we go."

Misawa looked haughty. "That would be a waste of my talents."

"No it wouldn't," said Manjoume, "because if after all this strutting and preening it turns out that you don't actually come up with anything, I'm going to drag you into the woods and _throw_ you at the guy, so maybe he'll be too distracted to mess with us."

Juudai couldn't help it - he snickered. Misawa looked offended.

"That," he said, "was needlessly violent. I have half a mind to withdraw my offer."

"Nah, don't do that," said Juudai placatingly. "Don't mind him. He's just a grouch, that all. He doesn't mean what he says."

"I do too," Manjoume said under his breath.

"Anyway, I'm interested now," said Juudai. "I want to see what you can come up with."

"Fine," said Misawa, apparently mollified. "Give me... let's say until eight o'clock. You can meet me in the library after dinner, yes?"

Manjoume and Juudai both nodded. The school library was open until curfew, and students were encouraged to make use of it whenever they wished, but it was hardly a popular hangout at that time of day. It was a perfect place to have a clandestine meeting - not very interesting, Juudai consoled himself, thinking of how badly his plan to meet in the bushes had failed, but practical.

"We'll see you there," Juudai promised.

"If I feel like it," Manjoume drawled.

That was apparently good enough for Misawa. He strode off, looking eager for a challenge, passing straight through the prickly bushes as though they weren't there. Juudai watched him with a trace of envy.

"It must be nice to do that," he said.

Manjoume gave him a sidelong look. "Wishing you had real powers, huh?"

"Hey, I have powers! I just don't know what they are yet!" Juudai protested.

"Adds up to the same thing," said Manjoume. "Anyway, there's no more point in talking to you. I'm outta here."

He got up and began crawling back out through the tunnel. The fact that he almost immediately got a jumble of twigs snagged in his hair hampered his exit somewhat. Juudai watched him with interest until he had finally vanished out of sight. Then he lay back down on the leafy ground again. He liked where he was, and had no desire to try to crawl off to somewhere else.

 _Everything just keeps getting weirder and weirder,_ he mused. What had happened to the world he'd seen on TV, where the villains were always upfront about what they were doing, and were usually polite enough to make an introductory speech complete with handy catchphrases and clever names? He didn't care for all this ambiguity. He wasn't even sure this character _was_ evil, or just really, really strange. And what did he want Juudai for?

 _Maybe he knows something about me I don't? Maybe he's figured out what my power is. If he has, I wish he'd share..._

With these thoughts spinning slowly through his mind, it seemed like too much effort to ask his brain to do anything else. He simply lay there on the warm earth, watching the clouds.

There was an airplane overhead...


	11. Hidden Powers

Shou sat fidgeting, swinging his feet rapidly back and forth as he waited for someone to _tell_ him something. He was sitting in the examining room of the nurse's office - a silly place to leave him, he felt, since he was the farthest thing from sick - perched on the edge of an examining table and trying not to look at the posters of internal organs and various rashes. Some of the more villainously inclined supers could inflict some _weird_ forms of damage.

At last, Miss Ayukawa reappeared, looking thoughtful. She gave Shou an evaluating look, fists planted on her hips.

"Well, this is a new one on me," she said, mostly to herself. Then, plastering a professional smile on her face, she said, "Would you come with me? The chancellor would like to see you in the training area."

"The chancellor wants to see me?" asked Shou, eyes going wide. "Am I in trouble?"

"Oh, no! No, not at all," she assured him. "He's just interested in your case, that's all."

Shou frowned. "So I'm a case now? What's going on?"

"I'm sure Chancellor Samejima will explain," she said. "Come along, please."

There didn't seem to be anything else to do. Shou slid off the table and scampered along after her, heading for the training rooms. When he'd first started school, those rooms had been places of dread. They were smaller versions of the obstacle room where the classes played the token game and similar challenges. These rooms were meant for one-on-one or two-on-two competitions, which in the past had always meant that Shou would be left running and dodging while his opponent threw everything they had at him. He'd been looking forward to finally having a chance to show off what he could do now, but he hadn't wanted to do it like this, with the most important man in the school watching him. He'd never even met Chancellor Samejima face to face, only seen him at a distance at school conventions. At least Ryou knew the man well and had given Shou the impression he was nice...

They reached the training rooms. The chancellor was indeed there, accompanied by an older student Shou didn't know. She was dressed for training, in skintight leggings and a matching halter top, both printed with bright colors in a pattern of butterflies. She was watching Shou with open doubt, as if suspecting he'd been brought out as some sort of prank and her real partner would be there once everyone had enjoyed their laugh. The chancellor, though, smiled benevolently down at him.

"There you are," he said. "Thank you for joining us."

"Um... no problem?" he said hesitantly. He had never realized just what an imposing man the chancellor was. He was so much taller than Shou was, and his considerable girth lent him a monumental presence. Still, at least he looked genuinely pleased to have Shou there. The girl just looked bored.

"Can we get this over with?" she asked.

Samejima shot her a mildly admonishing look. "Now, now. Mr. Marufuji has agreed to do this for us as a favor. It behooves us to be polite."

"I don't mind helping," said Shou uncertainly, "but I really don't know what I can do for you..."

"That's all right. This is just a little experiment," he said. "Now, tell me, have you two met each other before?"

"No, I don't think so," said Shou. "I mean, we might have passed each other in the halls, but we're not in any classes together."

"Perfect," said Samejima. "I would like very much for you and Miss Kouchou here to go into that room and engage in a training battle. I want to see the extent of your powers for myself."

 _What has us knowing each other got to do with it?_ Shou wondered, but didn't bother to ask. Instead, he simply nodded and started for the practice room.

"Now, remember," said Samejima as he watched the two students enter, "this is just a demonstration. You aren't to try to hurt each other any more than necessary."

 _That's easy for you to say,_ Shou thought. The look the girl was giving him suggested that she had a loose definition of "more than necessary".

"So what are your powers, anyway?" she asked him.

"You know," he said. "Stuff."

"Fine. Be that way." She took a position at the far end of the room and stood watching him, waiting for him to make a move. "Do your stuff, then, kid."

Shou scowled. Somewhat to his surprise, he realized he was getting annoyed. It was one thing when he was just a new student with low S-levels and no noticeable powers. Now he actually _had_ working abilities. He'd saved at least one person's life with them already. People ought to start taking him seriously!

"Fine," he said, and fired off a bolt of lightning.

She dodged it, of course. He'd been almost expecting that. What he hadn't expected was for her to suddenly grow a pair of butterfly wings and shoot straight up in the air. Shou gawped at her.

 _I should have known something like this was going to happen._

Then she made a gesture and produced a glowing energy whip in either hand. Shou winced. Why did the flying ones always seem to come equipped with some sort of weapon? Clumsily, he managed to get his shield up just in time to avoid taking what would have been a stinging blow to the cheek. He fired off several more lightning bolts as she whizzed overhead, but the fact that he'd only attained that skill a few hours ago meant that he hadn't really gotten the hang of it yet. Being able to throw lightning bolts was less impressive when he didn't exactly know how to _hit_ things yet. He saw Kouchou coming around for another pass and braced himself as if to dodge. Instead, just as she drew near, he flung up a shield and shoved her against the wall, just as if he were wielding a giant flyswatter. She yelped as she smacked against the walls. He just grinned. The walls in here were padded - she wasn't hurt, just annoyed.

"That's what you get!" he shouted at her.

Kouchou slid down the wall to land on her hands and knees. She raised her head to snarl at him.

"I'll get you for that!" she shouted. "No more Ms. Nice Butterfly!"

She flung her wings wide and began flapping them rapidly. A wind swirled around her, soft at first but rapidly increasing in force. Shou raised another force field, attempting to protect himself, but they could only do so much, and he found himself sliding backwards, driven by the strength of the hurricane-force winds. She seemed to sense him faltering. Giving him a smug smile, she let the wind slack for an instant, just enough to let him relax and shift his balance, and then hit him with a powerful gust that threw him off his feet entirely and sent him sailing across the room. He watched in resignation as the floor dropped away beneath him and the ceiling whirled over his head. He had enough time to think about how it was going to feel when he hit the ground, but somehow he couldn't seem to think of anything he could do about it. He screwed his eyes shut and curled himself into a ball.

 _If I have any powers that can get me out of this, now would be a really good time for them to show up!_

Apparently whatever force granted his powers was listening. He felt a sudden sense of pressure between his shoulder blades, felt the fabric of his jacket grow taut for a moment, then heard it rip. Then he was no longer falling but hovering a few yards off the ground, watching the floor swing gently back and forth beneath him.

"What the heck...?" he exclaimed.

Kouchou was staring at him, her expression a mixture of shock and outrage.

"What do you think you're doing?" she demanded.

The door to the training room burst open, and Samejima rushed in.

"That's enough!" he declared. "You've both done well, but that's enough."

"But how did..." Kouchou began. Samejima waved a hand to silence her.

"Thank you, Miss Kouchou, you've done exactly what I hoped for," he said. "You may return to class now."

"Fine, don't tell me anything," she groused, but she turned and walked away. Shou watched her bemusedly. Samejima smiled up at him.

"Would you like some help getting down?" he asked.

"Huh?" Shou realized belatedly that he was still bobbing gently somewhere near the ceiling. He turned his head a little, and was only mildly surprised to see a pair of pale blue butterfly wings fluttering amid the torn ruins of his jacket. They were doing a remarkably good job keeping him aloft. "Okay, that's weird."

It took a little help from the chancellor, but in the end, he managed to get his feet back on the ground. Once he was safely on the floor again, his new wings folded themselves up and disappeared. The damage to his uniform, though, didn't seem inclined to heal itself. Shou looked apologetically up at the chancellor.

"I think I need a new uniform," he said.

"That's all right," Samejima said. "We keep plenty of spares on hand for situations like these. Now, Miss Ayukawa, if you would, please?"

Miss Ayukawa opened a case and took out a needle. Shou, who had been dealing with this for most of the morning, obligingly held out his arm to get pricked again. Miss Ayukawa deftly drew a blood sample and ran it through an S-Level tester. Shou craned his neck to try to see the results, but she was holding it well above his eye level.

"Up six points," she announced. "I'm guessing he'll gain a few more before it settles. He only activated his new power a few minutes ago."

Shou blinked at her. "Wait, that's not right. That's not how it works."

"I assure you," she said, "these tests are accurate."

"But it doesn't go like that!" he insisted. "Your levels don't go up just because you use a power!"

"I believe," said Samejima, "that this may be a special case. Come on - let's go get you a fresh uniform."

There was a stock of fluffy workout towels in the dressing room near the practice room. Miss Ayukawa fetched one for Shou so he could cover up the damage he'd managed to do to his uniform. Samejima waited patiently for him until he'd put himself in order, and then began shepherding him across the school to the store rooms.

"So, how are you feeling?" Samejima asked kindly. "She didn't hurt you too badly, did she?"

"No, I'm okay," said Shou. "What is this all about? Are you ever going to tell me what's going on?"

"I suppose we do owe you that," said Samejima. "All right. The fact is, your S-levels appear to be increasing, and we have a theory as to how that might be."

"S-levels don't change," said Shou blankly.

"Yours do," said Samejima, "at least for now. They probably will level off eventually. We'll want to do regular tests, to be quite certain. This is a very unusual situation."

"What do you mean? Is something wrong?" Shou asked. He had the feeling he should have known that his powers wouldn't come without a price tag.

"Oh, no, not at all," said Samejima. "It's just that we think we've worked out the rhyme and reason behind your power set, and it's something we haven't seen very often before. In fact, there's only one other person on record with your specific talent."

"That can't be right," said Shou thoughtfully. "Lots of people can do force fields and lightning bolts. Maybe not together, but..."

Samejima shook his head. "It's not as simple as all that."

They reached the door to the supply room, and Shou went digging among the uniform shirts and jackets to find one in his size. Samejima closed the door behind them to give them a measure of privacy.

"Do you want to know why I asked if you had ever met Miss Kouchou before?" he asked.

"That was a little weird," Shou admitted.

"I wanted to be sure you'd never been exposed to her power set before," said Samejima. "There is a pattern to the way your skills are developing. If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say that other than your brother, you didn't have a lot of exposure to supers when you were young. Am I right?"

"Well, yeah," said Shou. He pulled down a jacket and studied it with a distracted air.

"And your brother went away for training very early, yes?"

Shou nodded. "That's right. He could fly practically as soon as he was born."

"That fits into our theory, then," said Samejima. "Mr. Marufuji, you have a rare and special gift. You're a power mimic."

Shou dropped the jacket. "I'm a what?"

"You copy other people's powers," he said. "If you are exposed to someone else's talent at a close enough range, you can imitate it. That's how you ended up with such a disparate power set, and why those talents didn't manifest until you encountered someone else who had them."

"Is that a thing that can happen?" Shou asked. He was still scrambling to pick up the clothing he'd dropped.

"As I said, it's rare," Samejima replied. "As far as we've been able to work out, only one other person has had that talent, and she had already been using it extensively by the time the S-level test was developed. What we do know was that she was able to copy the skills of other supers, within certain limits. She couldn't copy passive abilities, like enhanced healing or super speed, only things that could be actively used, like energy bolts or transformation. She also couldn't manage to juggle more than six talents at any one time - if she tried to absorb a seventh, the one she'd used the least recently would drop from the roster. We'll have to do some experimenting to see what your actual limits are."

Shou was still staring at him. "You mean... I could have any power I want? Just like that? All I have to do is find someone else who has it?"

"Potentially," said Samejima. "As I said, we'll have to do some experimenting. I wanted to discuss this with you in private because I believe that with such a versatile power set, you are going to need some special training, and I don't want you to feel any more singled out than you have to. I imagined announcing something like this in front of the entire school would cause a bit of a stir."

Shou didn't say anything at first. He was still trying to absorb the enormity of what he was hearing. He'd spent his whole life hoping and praying that he might have at least one useful power, something that would at least not embarrass him in front of his brother. Now he was being told that not only did he have one talent, he effectively had all of them. People would kill for that kind of power, and somehow it had settled on him. He wasn't sure whether he should be jumping for joy or running to hide.

"Special... training?" he managed weakly.

Samejima nodded. "Think about it. Most people only need to learn a few skills. People who can fly have to practice flying. People who can shoot energy beams need to practice hitting targets. People who can read minds have to practice sifting out useful information. But you have the potential to learn how to do almost anything, and that means you're going to have to learn how to do a little bit of everything. It's going to mean a lot of extra work for you."

Definitely, Shou decided, he should be worried.

"The first thing we're going to have you practice, though," said Samejima, "is how to _not_ mimic someone's powers when you don't want to."

"Would that be bad?" Shou asked, surprised.

Samejima gave him a patient look. "Well, supposing it turns out that your limit is three talents at once. Suppose you're flying, protecting yourself with your shields, and firing lightning bolts at your enemies. Then someone comes along who can turn invisible, and they attack you, so you reflexively copy their invisibility... and lose the ability to fly."

Shou didn't need him to explain what would happen next. He swallowed hard.

"I guess that would be bad," he admitted.

He must have looked a little overwhelmed, because Samejima smiled reassuringly.

"Don't worry," he said. "We'll make sure you get the training you need. You're not going to go out into the world unprepared if we at the academy have anything to say about it. We'll make sure you learn everything you need to know, even if it takes a long time. Now, you're looking a bit tired. Would you like to take the rest of the day off?"

Shou nodded gratefully. "Please."

"All right," said Samejima. "Just be good, all right? No experimenting on your own. If you want to practice, talk to Professor Daitokuji or one of the other teachers first and get them to set up a training room for you."

"I promise," said Shou.

"All right, then," Samejima replied. "I'll go speak to your teachers and let them know that your courses will have to be adjusted."

He went out. Shou spent several seconds standing frozen in the middle of the supply room trying to absorb everything that had just happened to him. In a daze, he started for the door. He made it halfway down the hall before he remembered that his uniform was still in shreds. Blushing furiously, he dashed back into the storage room to change into his new shirt and jacket.

By the time he was properly clothed again and had disposed of his ruined old uniform, he was feeling a bit calmer. As long as he didn't think too hard about the scope of what he was going through, he could almost be cheerful about it all. He'd spent his whole life imagining what sort of gifts he might have - sometimes extravagant dreams of becoming the most powerful hero since Mutou Yugi, sometimes more restrained dreams of having some simple but useful gift that might someday be just what someone needed to save the day. The thought that he might be able to have any or all of them was encouraging.

The fact that he'd been excused from classes was a mixed blessing. It was always nice to get a break, but there was still a part of him that wanted to go back right now and show everyone what he could do right now. Now that he knew what his talent was, he thought he could manage to do it on purpose rather than by accident, and it would be good practice, right? On the other hand, he had a feeling it would make him the center of attention in a way he wasn't sure he had the energy to deal with right now. He ambled down the halls, tugging at his stiff new uniform jacket, and turned things over in his mind.

At length, it occurred to him that what he really wanted was to talk to his brother. He hadn't really spoken to Ryou since the night Fubuki had been injured. It hadn't really seemed like the right time. Now, though, he felt that it would be good to talk to Ryou, to tell him what he was going through. He felt that Ryou, out of everyone on earth, would be most likely to understand what he was going through. He'd know how it felt to try to figure out what to do with so much power and responsibility. Aside from that, this would be the first time Shou really felt he could approach his brother as an equal. There was finally a reason for Ryou to be proud of him. Shou entertained a brief fantasy of the two of them forming a team together. Ryou could do most of the heavy fighting, and Shou would have the flexibility to fill in with whatever extra help was needed. They might make a good team.

Ryou hadn't been attending classes since his failed mission, so Shou guessed that his brother might be hanging around his room. With that in mind, Shou left the school building and began marching up the path towards the Blue dorm. It occurred to him as he went that he had never actually been inside the Blue dorm. He'd stood outside of it, dreamed of what it would be like to live there, but he'd never actually gone inside. He wondered what it was like.

He didn't have the chance to find out. He'd only made it partway down the walk before the front door opened and Ryou himself stepped out. He was looking more cheerful than he had since the warehouse incident, which Shou decided was probably a good thing. He picked up his pace.

"Hey! Big Brother!" he called, racing and stumbling up the sidewalk.

Ryou paused and glanced up, looking rather surprised to see his little brother hurrying towards him.

"Shou. Why so excited?" he asked.

Shou skidded to a stop at the base of the front steps, panting a little. "I just wanted to talk to you, that's all."

"I... see." The tone of Ryou's voice suggested he couldn't quite believe his own brother would want to talk to him without an ulterior motive. Maybe that was true - the two of them didn't go in much for casual conversation.

"I was talking to Chancellor Samejima," Shou pressed on. "He was helping me figure out what my power is."

Ryou raised one elegant eyebrow. "I was under the impression you had already worked that out."

"It's a little more complicated than we thought," said Shou.

"Explain," said Ryou.

Shou explained. Ryou listened, his expression giving away nothing. The only sign that he was listening at all was the way his eyes narrowed very slightly.

"I see," he said at last. "That must be... very exciting for you."

"It's scary," Shou admitted. "I don't really know what to do yet. I always figured my talent would be something small, you know? I would have liked just having something useful, something that would make someone want me as part of their team. I didn't want all this. People are going to expect me to be leader of my own team and do really important stuff. I don't know how to do any of that!"

Ryou's expression hardened. "So you came to me to complain?"

"What? I... no!" Shou, startled, took a step back. "I only..."

"You don't get a choice in what your power is," said Ryou coldly. "It's your responsibility to use it wisely. That means that when your powers manifest, you learn how to use them to the best of your ability. You have a gift that most people would give anything to have, and you have no right to complain that it's too hard and you don't want to use it."

"I didn't say..."

"Don't go thinking that you're something special because of this," said Ryou. "You can have whatever powers you want, but don't forget that you still don't know anything about how to use them. You're not a hero yet."

He swept past Shou and strode briskly down the path, leaving Shou to stare after him in confusion.

"What did I say?" he wondered aloud.

As if in response, there was a sound of running footfalls. Ryou stopped walking, and Shou scampered after him to see what the fuss was all about. Dashing up the path was one of the young women who hung out with Asuka. Shou recognized this one vaguely as Junko.

"Guys, come quick!" she said. "There's an airplane!"

"An airplane? Where?" Shou asked.

"In the harbor!" she said. "It just landed!"

Ryou looked suddenly interested. "Did anyone say why it's here?"

"I'm not sure," Junko admitted. "The rumor is that it's someone really important! You need to come down to the harbor and see!"

Shou didn't see any reason why they needed to be in such a hurry. They had plenty of crises going on around here already. What did a visiting celebrity matter? Unless it was a legend like Mutou Yugi or Kaiba Seto, what difference did it make? Shou would probably go look anyway, just out of curiosity, but he doubted his brother would have much interest.

"Thank you for informing me," said Ryou. "I think I would like to go and see this plane."

He swept off, following behind Junko, and leaving Shou feeling very confused.

"I don't understand my brother at all," he muttered, and stomped off towards the harbor.

* * *

The library was quiet. Idly, Misawa wondered just what was keeping everyone away, but he wasn't curious enough to go and find out. As far as he was concerned, his research was more important, and everyone else was welcome to go and do whatever they wished as long as they weren't troubling him. It was, he felt, rather nice to have the library all to himself.

His research thus far had been thoroughly interesting. He'd been poking through the school's archives, looking up anything he could think of that might possibly be relevant to the things Juudai and Manjoume had told him. He'd started with the most obvious route, looking up the names and known powers of the new crop of students. It didn't seem likely that the source of their problems could be something so simple to find, but it was worth a look. None of them, however, showed any sign that they could be the strange dark boy from the woods. Next, Misawa searched through the rest of the school attendance records, searching for anyone whose power set looked as though it could match this mysterious character. The records went back for a good twenty-five years, but nothing in them suggested there had ever been a student who could do what this one had. Undaunted, Misawa began a broader search through the records of known supers. None of them really seemed to fit the bill, either, but Misawa hadn't really expected them to. No, he had a feeling that the answer to this puzzle lay a little closer to home. He stared at the computer screen for a moment, drumming his fingers and thinking.

On a whim, he started a new search, looking for information on the notorious "black dorm". That was a little harder to get anything definite on, and after he had cleared away the extraneous material, there wasn't much left to read. He was intrigued to realize that the rumors only went back a few years. The way people talked about it, he'd thought it was some sort of long-standing institution. Given the way students tended to arrive when their gifts started manifesting and leave when they were judged to have mastered everything they needed to know, there was no standard length of time for people to attend. That meant that in all likelihood, there were still people here who remembered a time when there had been no Black Dorm. That was interesting all by itself. It must have truly captured the imagination of the students to become such a legend.

Still, there was a little bit of information to go on. There were a few articles in the student newspaper speculating on its existence, and more than a few disciplinary records that suggested that something of interest had been going on. As near as Misawa could tell, some of the less empowered students had started getting together in the woods after dark. Those groups had just been informal get-togethers, involving toasted marshmallows and story-telling, and the teachers had been lenient on the occasions when anyone had been caught. Then, about three years ago, something had changed. The group began recruiting. There were rumors that the students were training in secret there, even experimenting with ways of boosting or altering their powers. Strange things were rumored to have happened in that forest. Then one night, an impenetrable fog had fallen over that part of the forest, and for several days a dozen or so students had been missing. All of them had eventually been recovered unharmed, and none of them seemed to remember clearly what had become of them during those days. After that, the teachers had cracked down heavily on students being out unsupervised after dark, and the whole "Black Dorm" incident had been written off as one of those things that happen on an island with a high concentration of superpowers. Within a month of the fog incident, the school had hired Professor Daitokuji, who apparently specialized in moderating unruly powers, and he'd apparently been effective in making sure nothing like that ever happened again.

 _I wonder if the teachers would know anything more. Something that isn't in the computer system._ Misawa leaned back in his chair and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. _Hm. I wonder..._

There were, he thought, a lot of ways in which a computer file could be altered. Some of them were very simple and could be done by mundane humans with no powers at all. On the other hand, there were some superpowers that could affect computer equipment in a variety of ways, ranging from people like Manjoume and Amon who could fry a computer's circuits with a wave of their hand, those who had magnetic control so fine that they could completely reprogram a machine with an effort of will, and a few with even stranger powers. The fact that there was no trace of this boy in the computer system didn't mean there hadn't been at some point.

On the other hand, altering records on paper was extremely tricky. There weren't a lot of people, even at a school like this, who could change words on a page once they'd been written down, not without leaving some sort of trace. That was why all the most important documents in the school were backed up by printing and filing them the old-fashioned way. Those files, however, weren't generally accessible to students. Even teachers were supposed to ask permission before digging around in the file rooms. Still...

"Well, why not," he said. It was for a good cause. Mind made up, he stood and strode briskly out of the library.

Whatever was keeping the library clear was also apparently emptying the campus. Once again, Misawa found himself wondering just where on earth everyone was. His natural curiosity warred with his unwillingness to pass up a chance when it was offered. If everyone else was otherwise occupied, it would be all the easier for him to slip in and out of the file room without being seen. In the end, that was what decided him. He was willing to do a lot for the cause of truth, justice, and human civilization, but he wasn't interested in jeopardizing his good standing in the school. Breaking the rules was one thing, but he wasn't about to get _caught_. He walked briskly up the front walk, through the front doors, and began heading for the basement of the school.

But not by any direct route. There were a lot of locked doors between Misawa and the room he wanted. Fortunately, X-ray vision and walking through walls made navigating through that a lot simpler. The school had good thick walls, meant to stand up to anything either the students or the volcanic island itself could throw at them, so it was no problem for him to walk in-between rooms and be completely invisible. He was feeling quite pleased with himself by the time he entered the file room.

It wasn't much to look at, of course - just a bare white room full of rows and rows of shelves, the kind designed to roll back and forth on tracks so that more shelves could be squeezed into one space. Misawa contemplated the rainbow of tabs on the files and considered where to start. As far as he could tell, the student records were sorted by entry year and then alphabetically. That made matters complicated. He didn't know what year he was looking for. Some students started at the academy as young as three, if their powers manifested early. Figuring out which one he wanted was going to be a challenge. Still, he had to make the attempt.

However, he'd barely started before the door to the file room flew open. He gave a yelp of surprise and whirled to face the newcomer. A woman was striding into the room, her footfalls loud on the hard floor. She was an imposing figure, several inches taller than Misawa and powerfully built. Misawa stared at her, for once in his life unable to formulate any sort of plan.

"What," she demanded, "are you doing in here?"

"Ah..." he said. He tried frantically to remember why he was there. The woman's arrival had driven everything else out of his mind.

"How did you get in, anyway?" she asked. "I didn't hear the door open."

"Then how did you know I was there?" he asked abstractedly. It was the wrong question to ask, and hardly relevant, but he was having trouble focusing. The woman was, after all, extremely attractive. With her curvaceous figure and the healthy glow of her skin, she radiated a kind of vitality that bypassed his higher thought processes and went straight to his libido.

"I smelled you," she said. She grinned, showing canine teeth that were slightly more pointed than a human's. "That's why they put me on guard duty. You can be invisible all you want, but you're still not getting past me."

"That's... most impressive," said Misawa, pulling himself together with an effort. He thought he knew who he was dealing with now - a shape-shifter named Taniya who was also one of the school hall monitors. She was in the Blue Dorm with the rest of the physical fighters, so he hadn't yet had a chance to meet her in person. He was beginning to feel that he had missed out.

"Flattery won't get you out of this," she said, but she was looking more amused than anything. "So tell me why you decided to come down here. You haven't been here long enough to have anything you need to sneak out of your file, and you didn't bring a girlfriend with you so it isn't that. Or were you planning on letting her in later?"

Misawa could feel himself blushing. "No, no, it isn't that. I'm here doing research."

"Uh-huh," she said. "And what did you need to research, exactly?"

"It's complicated."

"Uh-huh," she said again, with a skeptical arch of her eyebrows. "I can do complicated. I didn't get this body at the expense of my brain."

"Of course not. I never meant to imply..." Misawa trailed off, cleared his throat, and tried again. "All right, here is what I know..."

As succinctly as he could, he explained the situation he was working with. Taniya listened. He was encouraged by the fact that while she seemed surprised, she didn't seem to disbelieve him.

"Hm," she said at last. "You're right. That is complicated. Have you told any of the teachers about this yet?"

"Not yet," he admitted. "Are you going to tell them?"

"I ought to," she said. "You're all going to get yourselves killed, you know."

Misawa wanted to point out that he would be on the sidelines and therefore in very little danger from anything, but that did not seem like a politic thing to point out.

"Not if we know what we're up against," he said. "Right now, I just want to know what it is these two have found. If it's something truly dangerous, then we can tell the teachers, but first we ought to know."

Taniya seemed to think about it. Then she grinned, showing all her teeth. "Well, why not. I never was much of a one to run for help anyway. Need a hand?"

"I, ah... yes, that would be very useful, thank you."

"Great. You stay on that end, I'll work on this end," she replied.

Suiting action to words, she strode over to the other end of the shelf, knelt down on the floor, and began leafing through folders. Misawa watched her, finding himself fascinated by how quick and agile her hands were. After a moment or two, she turned and offered him an amused smile.

"I didn't say I'd do it all myself," she said.

"Oh. Right," he said. He turned and began busying himself with his own search. Somehow, he managed not to drop the next folder he reached for.

For a while, the two of them worked together in silence, Taniya with brisk efficiency and Misawa more slowly and thoughtfully. He didn't care to overlook important information just because he'd been in a hurry. Anyway, he wouldn't have minded much giving Taniya the credit if she made the discovery. He'd have been perfectly happy, in fact, to have an excuse to say something complimentary towards her. One of the sad facts of being a support hero was that while their work was vital to the success of most missions, it was still the field fighters who got all the dates. He had more or less resigned himself to that fact, but that didn't mean _all_ hope was lost. It was almost a shame when he finally found what he was looking for.

"Come have a look at this," he said, holding up the file.

Taniya left off what she was doing and came to peer over his shoulder. He obligingly shifted to give her a better view.

"What have you got there?" she asked.

"Files from about three years ago," he said. "Were you at the school then?"

She shook her head. "Not me. My whole family is made up of shifters. I've always been pretty much in control of my powers. I'm just here to get certified, and maybe hook up with a team of my own."

He filed that information away for future reference - after all, if she was a physical fighter, she was going to want technical backup someday - and resolutely turned his thoughts back to the matter at hand.

"Well, this is a file on one of the senior students," he said. "Someone by the name of Fujiwara Yuusuke. He was apparently a very talented student - everyone expected a great deal from him. I haven't heard of him, though, have you?"

Taniya frowned. "The name doesn't ring a bell..."

"Precisely," said Misawa. "I haven't heard of him, either, and I just spent the afternoon digging through the publicly accessible student records for the names of anyone who might have the sorts of powers Manjoume and Juudai described. If he had been in there, I would have noticed him immediately. He wasn't there."

She frowned. "So you think... what? Someone deleted him?"

"Or he deleted himself," said Misawa. "It says here that one of his talents was memory manipulation - specifically, making people forget things, especially in regards to himself. It gave him a form of invisibility - he could walk into a room and do whatever he pleased and as soon as he was out of sight, people would forget he'd been there at all. One thing he couldn't do, though, was wipe himself off a printed sheet of paper."

Taniya's eyes narrowed. "So what you're saying is that he could have been here all along and we wouldn't have known about it?"

"That's exactly what worries me," said Misawa. "He could have, and I think possibly he has." He tapped the page with one forefinger. "It says here that among this Fujiwara's abilities was the power to shadow-walk. There's no conclusive evidence that he was involved in this "Black Dorm" business, but it says here that he requested special permission to be outside his dorm after dark to practice utilizing his shadow-related powers, and the school agreed. There's no indication here that Fujiwara had anything to do with the Black Dorm, but the reports of strange things started happening three days after he filed his request. I don't think that's a coincidence."

"And strange things are still happening there, so he must still be there," said Taniya grimly. "I think you're right. It can't be a coincidence." Then she paused, frowning. "Wait, that can't be right. How could he have just been sitting there in the woods all this time with no one ever noticing? Powers or no powers, he'd still need to come out and eat once in a while."

Misawa flipped through the file and brought up a different page. "According to this, he'd begun having problems keeping his powers under control. At the time, they didn't have the dampeners to keep him under wraps, so there was no way to prevent accidents. I'm almost certain that incident with the fog was caused by his powers going out of control. I wonder if..."

"You shouldn't pry into people's personal affairs," a voice cut in.

Taniya jumped back with a snarl that wasn't quite human, and Misawa resisted the temptation to fade into the walls. Instead, he turned and got his first look at the man who had just appeared in the room.

He was exactly as Manjoume and Juudai had described him: pale skin, greenish hair, strange pale lilac eyes with a glint of something unsettling in them. His dark clothing made him seem to fade into the shadows of the dim room... or was he actually fading into the shadows? A dark fog seemed to cling to him, blurring his edges and making it hard to distinguish where his dark clothing left off and the shadows began. Misawa scowled at him.

"So," he said, "you're Fujiwara Yuusuke."

"And you're too clever for your own good," said Fujiwara calmly. "Not to mention nosy. That isn't an attractive quality."

"Neither is kidnaping people and tormenting them," Misawa retorted.

"I don't kidnap people," said Fujiwara, still sounding calm and reasonable. "People come to me sometimes. I can't help it if they don't like what they find. You, though... no one asked you to go prying into my personal business. I don't appreciate that."

"No one asked you to do what you did to Manjoume," said Misawa.

"I didn't hurt him," said Fujiwara levelly. "He came to me and I spoke to him."

"That's not how he tells it," Misawa replied. "You all but frightened the life out of him."

"I? Frightened him?" Fujiwara laughed. It was a strained sound. "You think I frightened him. How do you think I feel?"

Taniya snorted. "I don't think any of us care how you feel."

"Then I'll have to make you care," said Fujiwara. "I have tried being gentle, and that didn't work. Now I will have to be forceful. Last time, I let my captive go. This time I won't be so merciful."

He extended a hand, and the shadows rolled towards Taniya, who bounded backwards until her back was against the wall. Unfortunately, she was wedged between two of the rolling shelves, with barely enough room for her to walk, much less escape, and Fujiwara was between her and the exit.

"Wait!" said Misawa. Impulsively, he put himself between Taniya and Fujiwara. "She's not part of this. She stumbled in by accident. If you must punish someone, punish me. I'm the one who came in here to learn your secrets."

The shadows paused. For a moment, everything was perfectly still. Then, slowly, Fujiwara nodded.

"You make a fair point," he said. "Very well. You will come with me, and I will leave your lady to tell the others where you went. Perhaps Juudai will come to me if I have something he wants."

"Don't you dare take him!" Taniya snapped. Her hands were balled into fists; Misawa had no doubt that if Fujiwara had been in striking distance, she would have willingly punched his nose in.

"It's all right," said Misawa, trying to keep his voice steady. In truth, he was terrified, but if it came to a choice between him and an innocent bystander, he knew where his duty lay. "Go tell the others what happened. They'll come get me."

"That's right," said Fujiwara. "Bring them to me. Tell Juudai that I will return his friend if he comes to talk to me."

Taniya's eyes narrowed. "What are you going to do to him?"

Fujiwara held up his hands, as if to display his innocence. "Nothing at all. To your friend? Nothing. He will sit in the dark and wait. To Juudai? Nothing. I only wish to speak to him. Bring him to me." His expression creased into one of deep sadness. "Tell them soon, before you forget. It won't take long for you to forget..."

The shadows clustered around Misawa's feet, and he felt the chill sinking through the fabric of his clothes. Instinctively, he tried to pull away, but he felt himself stuck fast. Taniya tried to reach for him, but somehow she couldn't seem to get a grip on him. It was as if he had become as insubstantial as the shadows. When he had been young, and first coming to realize his abilities, he had once stumbled through a wall and gotten separated from his family, and they hadn't been able to find each other. He'd been sure that he was lost, that they would never find each other again. He'd been afraid that he'd died and become a ghost. All that fear welled up inside him again now, filling him with a sense of hopelessness he hadn't felt in years. He had just enough time to think that perhaps he'd made the wrong choice, and then the blackness overwhelmed him, and he knew nothing at all.


	12. Stranger, Danger

The campus seemed unusually empty. Juudai, sauntering along the path that meandered around the island, wondered where everyone had gone. He hadn't heard any explosions, so he doubted there was some sort of invasion going on. Everyone just seemed to have decided en masse that they had other places to be. Juudai kicked a pebble into the weeds and toyed with the idea of visiting the infirmary. Even if no one else was there, Asuka probably still would be, and she might know what was going on.

He hadn't made it very far, though, before he heard the sound of someone running up the path, and he looked up just in time to see Kenzan pelting towards him - see him, but not avoid him. Kenzan seized him by the collar and began hauling him down the path.

"Hey, what's all the hurry?" Juudai demanded, struggling to keep pace. It wasn't easy, since being dragged by the back of his coat meant he was now trying and failing to jog backwards.

"A plane just landed in the harbor," Kenzan explained. "There's a rumor it's somebody important - some famous hero or something - and we all want to see!"

"Sounds great," said Juudai, "but I can't see much of anything turned around like this!"

"Oh!" said Kenzan. He skidded to a halt so suddenly that if he hadn't still been holding on to Juudai's collar, Juudai would have fallen on his rump. "Lemme fix that for ya."

There was one of those confused moments that always seemed to go with someone making a large-scale transformation, and then Juudai was looking up at the great brown shape of a Tyrannosaurus. Kenzan obligingly stretched himself out with his belly to the ground.

"Hop on," he said. "I'll get us there in no time!"

Juudai grinned and scampered onto the dino's back. If he didn't have useable powers himself, it was nice to have talented friends.

The two of them went rolling down the path together, crashing through the occasional overhanging branch while Juudai whooped in delight. It wasn't long before he could see the edges of a large crowd gathered around the harbor. They were packed together so tightly that even Kenzan couldn't have gotten through unless he was willing to step on people, but his elevated height gave him and his passenger a good view. The crowd was packed thickly together up until a point about twenty feet from the edge of the pier, where they'd backed respectfully away to give the passengers aboard the plane room to disembark. From where Juudai sat, he could see someone carefully tying the seaplane to the dock while someone else was scampering to fetch the passenger's luggage from the hold. Of the passenger himself, there was still no evidence.

That this was someone important, though, was obvious. It was a large plane, but the luggage being unloaded suggested that there was only one person aboard it who was planning on staying for any length of time. The side of the plane itself was painted with some sort of logo, but between the distance and the glare, Juudai couldn't quite make out what it was. He wasn't sure he could have identified it in any case - there were a _lot_ of heroes out there, and memorizing all of their particular calling cards would take a lifetime of study. Juudai only remembered some of the most famous ones - Yuugi's inverted pyramid, Kaiba's white dragon, Otogi's double-six dice. This one looked like letters, which Juudai had never really approved of. There were too many people out there whose personas began with the same letters, and you were expected to remember which was which based solely on color and font. How many of those could one person really manage?

Juudai yelped as his steed suddenly bucked and snapped at the air.

"Hey, watch the tail!" Kenzan bellowed.

"Out of my way!" a familiar voice shouted back. Edo was pushing his way through the crowd, and even from where Juudai sat, he could see the excitement on the boy's face.

Juudai gave Kenzan a nudge. "You heard the guy, clear the way!"

"If you say so," said Kenzan. Juudai felt the dinosaur's sides shift as he took a deep breath. "Okay, people, everybody move! Dinosaur, coming through!"

He pivoted, sweeping his tail in a broad arc that scattered people left and right. Before they could collect themselves, he lumbered forwards, forcing yet more people to move out of his path. In a remarkably short amount of time, the road was clear, and Edo was running for the docks.

"That's good," said Juudai. "You can put me down now."

"Oh, right," said Kenzan.

He lowered Juudai back to the ground before shifting back into human shape. While they were doing that, Edo was rushing up to the plane to greet the man who was stepping out onto the dock. Juudai was surprised to see how happy Edo looked. He'd occasionally seen Edo looking pleased, or smug, or mildly amused, but this sort of open delight was new.

"DD!" he called, as he skidded to a stop in front of the newcomer.

The man - DD, apparently - gave the boy a warm smile.

"Hey, kiddo," he said. "Surprised to see me?"

"No," said Edo with a teasing grin. "Saiou told me you'd be coming, but that doesn't mean I'm not glad to see you."

"Well, I'm glad to see you too. I'm looking forward to the two of us spending some time together," DD replied. "I've got a responsibility to keep tabs on your schoolwork, right?"

"You could have just phoned," said Edo.

DD laughed. "Yes, but what fun would that be?"

Juudai ambled over for a better look. The newcomer was tall and well-built, with slightly unkempt blue-black hair, a jawline beard, and neat little square-rimmed glasses - neither outstandingly handsome nor particularly ugly. He was wearing the sort of anonymous slacks, turtleneck, and sport jacket ensemble that heroes of his age tended to affect when they weren't going out of their way to remind everyone that they were heroes. Despite the fact that he was relaxed and smiling, Juudai got a definite sense off of him that this was not a man you trifled with.

"Who's this guy?" Juudai asked, since no one seemed inclined to explain. "Your uncle or something?"

"Father, actually," said Edo.

"Adoptive father," said DD modestly. "I can't take much of the credit for how well this boy's turned out."

Juudai blinked at Edo. "You never said you were adopted."

"You never asked," said Edo, a bit sharply. "Anyway, does it matter?"

"Sorry, sorry," said Juudai, holding up his hands defensively. "Didn't mean to get personal."

He must have looked sufficiently sorry for his faux pas, because Edo relented.

"I never really knew my mother," he said, more quietly, "and my dad died when I was about five. He used to be a teacher here - did you know that? Well, my dad was doing work on how to give superpowers to other people, and it looks like someone wanted that power for themselves. They broke into his workroom one night, killed him, and took all his files." His fists clenched. "And when I find the son of a..."

DD set a hand on Edo's shoulder. "You'll find him. I'll be helping you every way I can."

Edo took a deep breath and mustered up a smile. "Yeah, I know."

DD turned a smile towards Juudai. "I was a great admirer of the late Mr. Phoenix. I've been doing everything I can to make sure his research is continued. That's one reason why I'm here - to consult with Professor Daitokuji about some of his latest experiments. And, of course, to check in on Edo here and make sure he's settling in well."

"You didn't have to do that," Edo protested.

"Why not? I've been worried about you, off on your own like this..."

"You don't have to worry! I'm not a _baby_ ," Edo complained. "I've been on my own before."

"Yes, but it's a father's prerogative to worry about his son," said DD, smiling. "Now, how about showing me around this island of yours?"

"Sure thing," said Edo. He looked around at the crowd. "I mean, it'd be a sure thing if people would _move_."

People took the hint. The crowds parted, murmuring to each other, so that Edo and DD could pass. Juudai watched the two of them as they wandered off towards the main building. The crowd began to disperse, some trailing at a curious distance, most drifting back to their dorms or to whatever other pursuits they had been following before the plane showed up. Juudai found himself left alone with Kenzan, along with Rei and Martin, who had been likewise observing the plane's arrival.

"Well, that was interesting," said Juudai. "Nice of the guy to come all the way out here to hang with his kid."

"I dunno," said Kenzan thoughtfully. "I'm not sure I'd want my dad hanging around all the time. I mean, I love my dad and all, but it's kinda nice being out on my own, too. School hasn't even been in session a whole month."

Martin mumbled something inaudible. Rei looked at him in surprise.

"You never told me that," she said, sounding affronted.

"What'd he say?" Juudai asked.

"He says his dad works here on the island," said Rei. She glared at him. "You should have said your dad was a super."

"He's not very good at it," Martin mumbled.

"So this guy is?" Juudai asked.

No one answered. Juudai blinked at them, wondering what it was he'd said wrong.

"That was _DD_ ," said Kenzan. "C'mon, you've heard of DD, right?"

"Maybe?" Juudai said. "There's so many of 'em, it's hard to keep track."

"Geez," said Kenzan, sounding halfway between impressed and appalled. "You really miss a lot, you know that?"

"I can't keep track of everything," said Juudai reasonably. "So fill me in - who is he?"

"He's famous in America," said Rei. "He's got the highest S-levels in the country! Don't you remember that one villain team, the Black Daggers? He broke them up and caught their leader by himself!"

"Come to think of it, I did hear something about that," Juudai admitted. At least the name "Black Daggers" sounded familiar. He had a vague notion that they'd been responsible for a few high profile crimes on the American west coast - demolishing a few Las Vegas casinos, kidnapping and holding for ransom a few wealthy tech company owners in Silicon Valley, killing some B-grade pop star and cleaning out her bank account, and probably a few more he hadn't heard about. If this man had single-handedly stopped all of that, he had Juudai's utmost respect.

"Might have heard something, he says," Kenzan muttered, shaking his head. "I don't believe it."

"Well, anyway, he sounds pretty cool," said Juudai. "Maybe he'll do something - I mean, like, put on a display or give us some special training."

"Yeah, maybe so," Kenzan agreed, looking a little more cheerful.

"I'd like to see that," Rei agreed. "Hey, think he'd sign an autograph?"

"You could ask," said Juudai.

He was about to suggest that perhaps they should go track down Edo and his father and see if something of that nature could be arranged, but he was stopped by a woman who had come charging up the path. Juudai had seen her coming out of the corner of his eye, but had more or less assumed that she was there hoping to see a little bit of the action before it broke up entirely. Instead, she stormed right up to him, grabbed him by the arm, and began hauling him off.

"Hey!" he yelped. He tried to tug himself free of her grip, but she was bigger than him and had a remarkably strong grip. Briefly he questioned his wisdom in wanting to come to a place where the majority of the people around him had some form of super-strength.

"You're coming with me," she informed him, continuing to haul him up the path. His feet were leaving small grooves in the dust.

"It might help if you tell me where we were going!" he objected.

The woman stopped to look at him accusingly.

"Are you Yuuki Juudai?" she asked. "The one who got in under Clause 214?"

"You know, I'm starting to hate that stupid clause," Juudai complained.

"Do you know Misawa Daichi?" she persisted.

"Well, yeah," said Juudai. "I talked to him just a while ago. He..." Juudai trailed off as a sick certainty washed over him. "What happened?"

"How should I know?" she snapped. "He's gone. That person came and took him, and he said he's not giving him back until I bring you to him."

Juudai scratched his head. "I got a little lost there about who did what... Are you telling me someone took Misawa? Was it a kind of creepy guy dressed all in black?"

"Yes!" she said. "Don't tell me you knew something like this was going to happen, because if you did..."

"I didn't know anything!" Juudai protested. "I thought Misawa was just going to look some stuff up in the library!"

"Well, that's not where he was when _I_ found him," she replied.

Behind them, Kenzan, Rei, and Martin were catching up to them. The three of them stood a few feet away, inspecting the drama with the air of people too curious to back away and too afraid to come any closer.

"So... who is she again?" asked Kenzan.

"Good question," said Juudai. He looked at the strange woman. "Who are you again?"

"My name is Taniya," she said primly.

"And you're a friend of Misawa's?" Juudai asked.

"Well, not exactly," she said. "I was just there at the time. That's not important anyway. What matters is that he got into this trouble because of you and you're going to help him get out of it. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am!" said Juudai. He started up the path again, paused and said, "Where are we going, anyway?"

"I'll explain on the way there," Taniya snapped.

She seized his arm and started hauling again, and this time, he didn't put up a fight. After a couple of strides, he was the one dragging Taniya behind him. Looking puzzled, the other three began jogging along after them.

"Wait, you don't even know where we're going," said Taniya, sounding aggrieved.

"Sure I do," said Juudai. "We're going to get Manjoume, and then we're going to the woods to find this guy and sort things out once and for all."

* * *

Ryou found Edo and DD walking slowly down one of the island's walking trails, chatting to each other about how things were going at school. Edo looked happy. Ryou frowned, watching them both carefully. Edo did not usually smile that much, or laugh that much, or make such expansive gestures. Was he merely happy to see his foster father again? Ryou seriously doubted it. He'd seen Edo happy before, and he generally went in for quiet smiles and restrained pleasure, not bubbly conviviality. Judging by the few phrases Ryou was catching, Edo wasn't exactly giving an accurate recounting of how the school experience had gone for him so far. He was full of stories about the school lunches, the class activities, and some of the more amusing powers his peers had, but nothing about what had happened at the warehouse or what had become of Fubuki. Ryou wasn't even sure that Edo had mentioned Juudai and the odd circumstances surrounding his admittance, which is something Ryou would have brought up if he'd been meeting with _his_ parents.

All of which suggested that Edo was avoiding answering any awkward questions. Ryuu thought he could make a shrewd guess as to why. DD had a full array of powers, and Edo had nothing but his gadgets and his wits. Edo surely wanted his foster father to think he was blooming and thriving here, and that meant keeping him from finding out that anything had gone wrong. Maybe he could even pull it off, in an isolated place like this.

Well, if that were the case, Ryou would help his friend by providing some distraction. He slipped out of the shadows and began striding briskly up the path. Both Edo and DD stopped walking and turned around. Ryou almost smiled - both of them were clearly too well trained to let anyone walk up behind them without making sure that person wasn't a danger.

"Good afternoon, Edo," said Ryou. He made a slight bow to DD. "Good afternoon, sir."

DD's eyes glinted with interest behind his glasses. "Let me guess - you must be Marufuji Ryou. Edo's told me a lot about you."

"That's right, sir," said Ryou. "It's an honor to meet you."

Edo frowned a little. He knew as well as anyone that while Ryou could be mannerly, and usually was, he didn't tend to humble himself before anyone, even established heroes. Ryou could almost hear the gears ticking away in his friend's mind as he tried to guess what was up.

"Pleasure to meet you as well," said DD affably. He held out a hand and Ryou gave it a businesslike shake. "It's always nice to meet one of my boy's friends."

"I'm glad to hear it," said Ryou. "Your reputation precedes you. I was hoping that I might have a chance to talk to you privately at some point."

Edo's scowl deepened, and DD looked slightly uneasy.

"Oh, I don't know about that," said DD. "I wasn't planning on staying very long, and I had hoped to spend that time catching up with Edo here. Maybe another time..."

"I understand," said Ryou, "but I still believe it's important for us to speak to each other. I believe you know Saiou Takuma?"

"Of course," said DD. "Not that I've met him face to face - he's a little reclusive, after all - but Edo talks about him all the time."

"Then you know his reputation," said Ryou. "He made it clear that I needed to speak to you - that the only one who can help me solve my problem is you."

"Did he, now?" asked DD, looking interested. "You're quite sure about that? He tends to be rather vague."

"He said the answer to my problems lay with a stranger who would come to the island from outside," said Ryou, "and that it would be a man of authority who I know well by reputation but have never met in person. You have to admit, that sounds like you."

"That's true," said DD. He scratched thoughtfully at his beard, stared off at the sky, then glanced down at his watch. "Well, I suppose I could spare a few minutes to hear you out. Edo, you don't mind, do you?"

It was clear that Edo was not altogether sold on the idea, but couldn't think of a way to argue with his best friend's judgment. "I guess I don't mind."

"I'll catch up to you later," DD promised. "Keep your cell handy. I'll call."

Edo nodded. "Fine. You two have fun." He waved them off with a flap of his hands, and DD laughed.

"Jealous," he accused fondly, and turned to Ryou. "Come along. Let's wrap this up before Edo here gets too impatient. Care for a walk on the beach?"

Ryou was amenable to the idea, so the two of them cut across the grass and made their way down to the water's edge. The beach here was pebbly and not popular with the local population of swimmers and surfers, so they had it all to themselves. For a little while, they walked side by side in silence, moving steadily away from the main building.

"All right, I think we're private enough," said DD at last. "What can I help you with?"

"It's not so much me you can help," said Ryou slowly. "It's more about my best friend, Tenjoin Fubuki."

DD smiled a little. "Then why isn't he here asking me for help?"

"Because he can't," said Ryou. "He's not even conscious at the moment."

"Then I don't see how you think I can help," said DD. "My power set doesn't include healing."

"That's just it," said Ryou. "There are healers on this island, some of the best in the world. None of them can do anything for him. That's why I went to Saiou in the first place - to look for answers outside the box."

"And he sent me to you," DD murmured. "All right, maybe you had better begin at the beginning. What exactly is wrong with your friend?"

Ryou frowned a moment, collecting his thoughts. "The beginning goes back further than that. I suppose it started when I was called into Chancellor Samejima's office..."

Ryou talked. It was an unusual feeling, spilling out so many words to anyone. Normally, he didn't talk very much, even to his closest friends. He was better suited to the role of "good listener", or at least that was what he told himself. The truth was that he didn't like admitting any vulnerability to anyone, or even giving them too much insight into what was going on in his mind, in case they found some way to use it against him. It was almost a relief to be speaking to this stranger, and getting out things that he hadn't dared to tell anyone else about, all the things he'd wished he could say to the chancellor, to Edo, to Fubuki, to his brother, to Asuka, but couldn't bend his pride enough to do so. It was so much easier to say these things to someone he'd never met and who he would probably never see again. His companion listened attentively, asked questions, encouraged him to elaborate. By the time he was done, Ryou's voice felt strained from the unaccustomed use.

"Well," said DD at last, "that sounds like quite a problem, all right. I'm not quite sure what you think I can do to..."

He trailed off, his eyes tracking something out on the ocean. Ryou, instantly on alert, turned to see what he was looking at. Moving swiftly over the ocean was a dark shape. Ryou shielded his eyes against the glare of the water, trying to make it out.

"Is that a helicopter?" DD asked.

"I think so," Ryou agreed.

"Are those common out here?"

Ryou shrugged. "Fairly. A lot of our supplies come over by helicopter."

"I see," said DD. "I just wondered."

He started calmly back up the beach, moving back towards the main part of the school again. Ryou felt mildly disgruntled. After all that, he'd expected some sort of advice, or at least a reaction, but for all the response this man gave, Ryou might as well have not said anything at all, much less try to make a bargain. Ryou wondered if it was possible if he'd chosen the wrong confidante, after all. Saiou had said Ryou would know who he was looking for when he saw him, and DD had seemed the most likely candidate. He seemed more interested in a stupid helicopter than Ryou's problems.

The helicopter... Something about that thought tickled the back of Ryou's mind. He turned to stare back out over the ocean. The helicopter was a lot closer now - it was moving very fast. Ryou squinted at it, trying to figure out what it was that puzzled him. It took him a moment to remember that the helicopters that made deliveries and carried visitors to their island were painted dull silver, and had the school logo on them. This one, though, was matte black. Now, what kind of...?

Then, to Ryou's shock, something emerged from it.

* * *

"I don't see why you're dragging me into this," Manjoume muttered.

"You started it," said Juudai, hauling him along by one arm. "Now Misawa is in trouble, so you're going to help us finish it."

"Wasn't my fault he volunteered," Manjoume muttered.

Juudai ignored him. Instead, the two of them continued their journey into the forest, crashing through underbrush and kicking up leaves. Juudai was setting a brisk pace, so that Manjoume was having trouble keeping up. Behind them, Taniya strode along determinedly, while Kenzan, Rei, and Martin followed with the air of people who were seriously considering saying that they'd left the kettle boiling and needed to go back home immediately. They trudged along in tense silence, following him deeper and deeper into the trees. Juudai didn't need to remember where the campfire circle was. He could feel it out there, throbbing like a headache in the front of his skull. He could have found it with his eyes closed, except that he would have walked into a tree.

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" asked Rei dubiously. "This place is kinda spooky..."

"All the trees look dead," said Martin in a whisper. His pale face looked paler than usual, his eyes wide.

"Something doesn't smell right," Kenzan agreed.

Juudai nodded. "We're getting close, then."

Even as he said that, he thrashed his way over a little rise in the earth and stumbled upon a trail, little more than a faint indentation in the earth edged with white stones, most of them half-hidden by dirt and leaves. Stepping onto it gave Juudai a jolt like an electric shock.

"This is it," he said, picking up his pace. "We're almost there!" He fought the urge to break into a full-tilt run. He'd have done it if it had only been Taniya and Kenzan and maybe Manjoume. He wasn't sure that Martin could keep up with him, and he doubted that Rei would have been willing to leave him behind. Still, he knew he had to hurry, hurry, _hurry_. It was, he was sure, his fault that Misawa was in trouble now. Manjoume had warned him that it was _him_ this shadow boy, this Fujiwara Yuusuke, was interested in, and Juudai hadn't taken the threat seriously. If he had paid more attention, if he'd just had the sense to pay more attention, if he'd gone to deal with the matter himself instead of dragging friends into it...

Well, they were into it now. He cast an uneasy look back at the rest of the group and wondered if he _should_ have tried to leave them behind. Too late now - they were here, and they were not going to take kindly to being abandoned this close to the end of the road. Taniya in particular was looking grim and determined, and Juudai found himself wondering if he would have time to actually say anything to this Fujiwara character before Taniya turned into a tiger and ate him.

Juudai stopped suddenly, and heard the scuffling sounds behind him of everyone else trying not to crash into him. He was vaguely grateful for that. Having someone the size of Kenzan or Taniya dropped on top of him would be no joke.

"We're here," he said.

And so they were. The campfire circle was spread out before them, looking just as it had the night Juudai had first seen it: mossy and overgrown, riddled with fungus, surrounded by a thin gray mist that simply shouldn't have been there in the middle of a warm sunny afternoon.

"This is where we were going?" Rei asked, her voice rising to a squeak. Juudai couldn't tell if she were frightened or merely appalled at the grunginess of it all.

"This is the place, all right," said Manjoume grimly. He took a few steps forward. "Hey, you creep. I brought you the guy. Are you going to come out or what?"

" _He_ brought _me_ , he says," Juudai muttered.

A little breeze rippled around the clearing, making the leaves rustle dryly and stirring the fog into thick clouds. Martin gave a little squeak before quickly clapping a hand over his mouth, and Rei put her arms comfortingly around him, though her face too was strained and white. Kenzan emitted a low growl, his eyes becoming green-gold and slitted. Taniya tensed and bared her teeth, showing sharp pointed canines.

"Stop playing around!" Juudai shouted. He took a few steps into the clearing. "You wanted me? Well, here I am! Now give Misawa back, or..." He faltered, trying to think of a suitable threat he could make to something that could move invisibly and make everyone who encountered it forget it had ever been there. "...or we'll all have wasted our time," he finished.

"I have nothing but time on my hands," said a soft voice. "But I'm glad you're here. We need to talk."

The shadows coalesced into the shape of the dark-clad young man. He watched them all solemnly. Taniya tensed to throw herself at him, hands raised like claws, but Juudai held out an arm.

"Wait," he said. "The guy says he wants to talk, so let's talk."

"I'm glad to see you're finally ready to be reasonable," said Fujiwara.

"I will if you'll give Misawa back," said Juudai.

"If you insist," said Fujiwara. "It makes no difference, really."

He made a gesture. The shadows at his feet writhed, and an unconscious body floated up as if from the bottom of a deep pool. This time when Taniya darted forward, Juudai didn't try to stop her. She gathered Misawa into her arms, calling his name and shaking him gently. She glared accusingly up at Fujiwara. "He won't wake up! What did you do to him?"

Fujiwara shrugged. "The transition was a shock to his system. I believe he has fainted. He'll wake up soon enough." He turned to Juudai. "Now, you and I must talk. Come."

He made another gesture, and this time a swirling portal of darkness appeared next to him. He stepped aside, clearly expecting Juudai to walk through it with him. Juudai regarded it dubiously, but he told himself that there was no getting out of it now. He took a step forward.

Rei clung to his arm. "No, don't go in there! What if he doesn't let you out?"

"If I don't, he could just drag us all in, like he did with Misawa," Juudai said. "You guys go on. Get Misawa to the nurse's office or to Johan or somebody who can take care of him. I'll be all right."

"It's true," said Fujiwara. "I tried taking him once. He broke my control over him in seconds. I can do nothing to him. That is why I needed him to come to me of his own free will."

Well, that was interesting. Suddenly Juudai wasn't afraid to go through that portal anymore - not because of Fujiwara's assurances, but because he suddenly guessed that Fujiwara must know what Juudai's elusive talent really was. He'd have given anything to possess that knowledge. If the only way to learn was to go into those shadows, he'd go without a second thought.

"I'll be okay," he told his friends. "Just look after Misawa."

Then, ignoring their worried expressions, he stepped towards the door. He held out his hand, because it felt like the right thing to do, and Fujiwara took it gravely. His hand felt cool and dry and somehow faintly insubstantial, as if were Juudai to grip it too tightly, it would crumble like an autumn leaf.

 _What happened to this guy, anyway?_ he wondered, and then Fujiwara was pulling him through the door, and everything went dark.


	13. Into the Light

Juudai had managed to forget just how dark Fujiwara's realm was. It wasn't something his mind could easily contain. It wasn't that he was actually _afraid_ of the dark or anything. To him, darkness had always meant a safe place to hide, the soothing calm of nighttime, a place to rest. This was some other sort of darkness. It wasn't the darkness that monsters hid in - that was too simple a way to describe it. If you knew there was a mugger in the alley, he'd be there whether there was a street light to shine on him or not. Darkness and light made no difference to that kind of threat. Conversely, if you imagined there was a monster under your bed or in your closet, you also knew deep down that they would be gone as soon as the lights went on again, and you could turn them on any time you wanted to (or shout for your parents to do it for you) and everything would be all right again. This darkness was in itself a threat, and you couldn't make it go away just by flipping a switch.

"Where are we?" he asked. His voice had a strange echoing quality. Moreover, Juudai had the uneasy sense that the echo was less a case of his voice resonating off of something, as it was a case of something resonating off of him.

"I'm not sure," Fujiwara admitted. "I'm not sure it really is a 'where'. It's just the darkness."

"Yeah, but..." Juudai began, and gave up. "Where" wasn't important right now. "Okay, fine. We're in the darkness. Why did you bring me here?"

"Because I need you to get me out," said Fujiwara softly.

Juudai blinked. "Can't you get out by yourself?"

"No." The sound was infinitely weary. "I've tried and tried, but I can't. I'm tethered to this place. I can... move, a short distance, if I make enough effort, but it always drags me back after a little while. Even if I go out, most people can't see me, or if they do, they forget almost as soon as I'm out of sight. By now, even those I was once closest to have forgotten I ever existed."

"Man, that..." Juudai shook his head, unable to find words to express how awful such a situation must be. How would he feel if all his friends and family forgot him, if he could only watch them but never remind them that he was there? "How did it happen?"

"I'm not entirely sure," Fujiwara admitted. He began pacing back and forth like a man trying to keep his emotions under control. "I'm sure you've heard of the Black Dorm?"

Juudai nodded. "Taniya told me some stuff, while we were looking for Manjoume."

"Yes. Your nosy friend did manage to get most of the story. He's quite clever," said Fujiwara. "It started out in good fun, you know - just a few of the students getting together after dark, toasting marshmallows, telling jokes, enjoying having some time out of the shadows of the more powerful students. They wanted to be known for who they were, and not just as the sidekicks of a greater hero. They wanted to be remembered. I identified with that. Even then, my powers had been misfiring. Some days the teachers would forget I was enrolled in a class. People who had been my best friends one day would look at me like they'd never seen me before. It always went away, but it had been happening more and more often and lasting longer and longer, and I didn't know what to do. The teachers didn't know what to do, either, other than to forbid me to use my powers at all. It helped a little, for a while, but it meant that I couldn't participate in classes and spent less and less time with my friends. Everyone saw me as an outsider..."

Juudai could sympathize with that. He understood how he'd felt with everyone quoting that stupid Clause 214 at him all the time and telling each other about how he had no powers, even when he knew he did. How much worse would it have been for someone who knew he had a gift, but wasn't allowed to participate in class or play games with the other kids? Juudai could just see Fujiwara, sitting by himself in an empty classroom, while the other kids played their superpowered versions of cpature-the-flag and hide-and-seek in the training room.

Fujiwara continued, "Eventually, I got the idea of experimenting away from the eyes of the teachers. I thought if I worked at it, I could find a way to control my powers. I encouraged my friends at the Black Dorm to experiment and train as well. I thought that with them all around me, they could protect me or stop me if something went wrong."

"But it didn't work," said Juudai softly.

Fujiwara shook his head. "No, it didn't. My powers went out of control completely and pulled all of us into this darkness. It took days for me to find some way to free my friends, but I couldn't free myself. I still can't. I'm sunk too deep, and it's still getting worse. Even now, it's taking more and more of an effort to emerge back into the real world. I think one day I may never get out." He lowered his voice. "What I'm afraid of is that one day there may be another accident like the one that happened that night, and I'll start pulling people in here with me, and no one will know what's going on because once someone is in here, everyone will forget about them. I could destroy the whole island... maybe more than that. I don't know how far it can go."

Juudai shuddered.

"What do you want me to do about it?" he asked. "I mean, if I have powers, I don't know what they are. They sure don't seem to do anything."

Fujiwara almost smiled. "Of course they do. I've been watching you more than you realize, every chance I get, especially when you're in a combat situation. All those games you play in Professor Chronos's class... you use them quite often, even if you don't realize it."

"Well, clue me in," said Juudai, "because the only time I remember doing anything even a little interesting was the time I saw Johan walking around without his body on."

"That's the one good thing about being on the sidelines instead of in the fray," said Fujiwara, almost dreamily. "You get a different perspective on things. What clued me in was the night you were playing capture-the-flag with your friend Manjoume. Everyone else succumbed to the darkness immediately. You sensed it, realized what I was doing, and shook it off with no more difficulty than if I'd thrown a blanket over you, instead of an impenetrable darkness that no one has ever escaped before. So I watched you during your combat games. Have you ever considered how it is that you're so good at them?"

"What do you mean?" Juudai asked.

"I mean, regardless of who your teammates are, you consistently score in the top five," said Fujiwara. "And there's another thing - no one ever hits you. You don't have super speed or flight or matter-phasing ability or even a shield, but every time someone attacks you, you somehow avoid it. Something interferes, or the shot goes wild. Did it ever occur to you that this might not be a matter of chance?"

Juudai shrugged, a little uneasily. "I figured I'm just really good at dodging."

Fujiwara made a scoffing noise. "Good enough to dodge an entire school of superpowered people? It seems unlikely - as unlikely as your ability to shrug off my shadows, or your friend Rei's mind control. You can do that too, can't you? I've seen her try it a few times, and you always laugh and brush her suggestions aside."

Juudai frowned a little. "Well, she did try to talk me into giving her my dessert the other day, but I sure wasn't going to do _that_."

"There you have it," said Fujiwara. "But there's another thing - the most important thing. Your friend Shou has been improving markedly in his abilities, isn't he?"

"I don't see what that has to do with anything," said Juudai. "He's always had powers. He had them before he even met me. He's just figuring out how to use them now."

Fujiwara shook his head. "I would believe that if it weren't for his S-levels. You've heard about that, haven't you? It's caused quite a stir. They can't figure out how it is that a person's S-levels might have suddenly changed that way. It's never happened before. They don't know why, but I can hazard a guess. It's only a guess, but it explains everything - why his S-levels changed, why no one can ever hit you with their attacks, why Jim Cook can't always guess what you've got the potential to do, why your own S-levels go off the scale every time they're measured. I hope I'm right in my guess, because if I'm wrong, then I have no hope left."

"So spit it out already," said Juudai. He sounded bold, but he was not at all sure that he really wanted to hear Fujiwara's guess. He hadn't put all the clues together - hadn't even realized they _were_ clues, but now that Fujiwara had laid them out for him, he was starting to get an uneasy feeling he knew what Fujiwara was going to say.

"I think," said Fujiwara, "that your power is controlling other people's powers. Even when you don't realize that's consciously what you're doing, you can stop other powers from affecting you when you don't want them to. In the case of your friend Shou, on the other hand, you wanted him to have powers, and so you were able to increase them far beyond his original capacity. You wanted him to be a great hero, even greater than his brother, and now he is."

Juudai shook his head. "That can't be it. Nobody has power like that."

"Nobody has S-levels that register 9999 on the scale every time," said Fujiwara. "Face it, Juudai. You're something the world has never seen before."

Juudai continued to shake his head, harder this time. This wasn't what he wanted. He'd wanted to be a hero, yes, but he'd wanted to be... well, a _normal_ hero, the kind that flew or fired energy beams or turned into a rhino. He'd have been happy even with something small as long as it was fun to use. To be told that he had this kind of power, though, sounded uncomfortably like responsibility. If what Fujiwara was saying were true, and this got out, what was going to happen? Would people start expecting him to take away the powers of bad people? He could wipe out every villain in existence if he wanted to. If he could give powers to Shou, could he do it for anybody? Was he doomed to spend the rest of his life having people with minor or embarrassing talents begging him to give them all something better? What about people like Saiou, who were so strong they weren't even safe to be around most of the time? Would he have to fix them all? And who was supposed to be making the choices about whose requests to grant and who to tell "Sorry, you'll just have to deal on your own?" Not him, that was for sure. He didn't want to have to make those kinds of calls.

"I know," said Fujiwara softly, as if guessing what he was thinking. "You didn't get a choice to be born this way, but I didn't get a choice in getting eaten by my own talents. Now, you can either go on denying who and what you are, and leave me stranded in darkness forever and probably a good chunk of the school with me as well, or you can admit what you can do and try to help. Please."

Juudai stared at him. "If I say I won't, what are you going to do, just leave me here?"

Fujiwara's smile was wry. "I've already told you, I have no power over you. You may leave any time you like. I'm the one who's trapped."

"This isn't fair!" Juudai shouted.

"No," said Fujiwara. "It isn't fair. It's just how things are. How will you deal with it? Will you run away, or will you be a hero?"

Juudai thought it was downright manipulative, to put things like that.

 _But he's right,_ a little voice inside told him. He'd always read stories and watched movies where the hero had to make sacrifices and hard choices. He just hadn't thought about himself having to make the same sort of choices until recently. It had all been for fun until Fubuki had gotten hurt.

 _If I knew I had this power then, I could have done something. I could have saved him. I can't let anything like that happen again._

"I don't know what I can do," he said slowly, "but let me try."

He reached out and took Fujiwara's hands, and he closed his eyes and searched for something to tell him what to do.

He thought later that it must have been the darkness that did it. When he was out and about in the daylight world, there were distractions - people to chat with, food to eat, naps to take, games to play, oceans to frolic in and shady spots to relax in. Here there was only darkness, Fujiwara, and Juudai himself, and with nothing else to pay attention to, he was intensely aware of his companion's presence. The darkness was clustering thickly around him, sticky as cobwebs, dragging him downwards. No wonder he couldn't get out, with him wrapped up in shadows like a fly in a spiderweb. Without thinking about it, Juudai tried to brush some of them away.

And that was when he found it. It was like a crack in Fujiwara's soul, spilling out power, and that was what the shadows were feeding on. It had probably started small, once, but the longer it was left unattended, the bigger and deeper it got. Juudai could almost feel the creaking strain that was Fujiwara trying to hold himself together against the pressure of it. The boy was right - if this didn't get fixed soon by _somebody_ , he was going to come apart entirely. Knowing that if he stopped to think about what he was doing, he wouldn't be able to do it, Juudai simply reached for that crack and _pulled_.

There was another one of those electric jolts. For an instant, he was displaced, as he touched the site of the break.

 _His parents had forgotten about him. One minute, they had been playing with him on the living room rug, and in another moment they had forgotten they had a child at all. They'd simply walked out of the house and left him behind, heading off to get lunch without him. He'd been left alone in a dark house with no lunch and no idea what was going on. And they hadn't come back. Hours and hours had passed, and they hadn't come back. It was nearly night when a policeman had finally come to find him sobbing in his room. He hadn't understood, then, what the man was telling him - that his parents had been in an accident, that they wouldn't be able to come back for him. The officer said he'd be taking him to a safe place, where there would be lots of other children to play with him and kind people who would take care of him. He wasn't to blame himself, the kind man said. His parents had loved him very much, and they would have come home for him if they could. That was what the man said, but Fujiwara knew he was wrong. His parents weren't coming back for him because they had forgotten all about him..._

Then there was an almost audible _snap_ and the fissure closed. Fujiwara dropped to his knees with a gasp.

"Oh," he said dazedly. "Oh, that's much better. I hadn't realized how much that hurt until it stopped..."

Juudai sat down on the... well, there didn't seem to be any ground to speak of, but whatever it was, he sat on it anyway. That had taken a lot out of him. That little glimpse into Fujiwara's past had _hurt_. No wonder the poor guy acted a little strange.

"Can you get us out of here now?" he asked, after a moment or two of catching his breath. "I'd kinda like to get back to where there's, you know, light."

"Yes. Yes, it would be good to see some light," said Fujiwara. "Let me try..."

He carefully levered himself to his feet, then reached down to help Juudai up again. Juudai couldn't help but notice that Fujiwara's skin felt warmer than it had a few minutes ago. He was still considering that when he felt Fujiwara give his arm a pull, and both of them stumbled out of the shadows and back into the forest.

The forest that was just a forest. The campfire ring was still there, but there was no fog anymore, no half-hidden mysterious path, no sense of lurking menace. There was just a circle of logs, a few stones marking the fire pit, and that was all. The trees rustled only in the ordinary way that trees did, and a few birds chirruped and screeched overhead. Fujiwara stared at it all as if he'd never seen anything like it. Cautiously, he took a few steps away from the circle, then looked back over his shoulder, as if he expected it to be following him. He walked a few more yards, moving quickly at first, the gradually slowing to a stop. He turned around and looked back and Juudai, eyes wide in his pale face.

"It worked," he said. "It's not pulling me back anymore. I'm finally out..."

Rattled as he was, Juudai had to smile. It was good to see someone so happy. When Fujiwara smiled, his solemn face was transformed.

"No problem," he said.

Fujiwara shook his head. "No. I can't thank you enough for what you've done, especially after the things I did to get you here. You have to understand, I was desperate, and I was losing my mind down there..."

"Hey, it's okay," Juudai hastily assured him. "You did what you had to do, and it's over now, right?"

"Yes," said Fujiwara, nodding. "I'm safe, thanks to you. I can finally be with my friends again. Even if they've all forgotten me by now, we can start over. I've missed them so much. Ryou, and Fubuki, and everyone..."

Juudai felt a sinking sensation.

"You were friends with Fubuki?" he asked.

"Yes," said Fujiwara, looking puzzled. "Is that important? Do you know him?"

"I think," said Juudai, "we need to head for the infirmary."

* * *

The good news was that by the time they reached the infirmary, Misawa was awake and talking. Actually, he seemed to be in fine spirits. This probably had something to do with the fact that Taniya was still making a fuss over him, and the two of them were contentedly cooing over each other in one corner of the room. The rest of the group - Manjoume, Kenzan, Rei, and Martin - were hanging around looking bored, but they jolted awake again when Juudai and Fujiwara came in.

"You again!" Manjoume snarled, surging to his feet. Lightning crackled in his clenched fists.

Juudai put himself between Fujiwara and Manjoume.

"It's okay, it's okay!" said Juudai. "We talked everything out. It's all fine."

"That's easy for you to say," Misawa muttered. "You aren't the one who got dragged into a dimension of eternal darkness."

"Actually, I am," said Juudai. "Twice, so don't complain. The point is, he told me how to fix it so nobody gets dragged into any dimensions of eternal darkness at all, okay? Everything is safe."

"Yeah, I'll believe that when I see it," Manjoume scoffed, but at least he reined his lightning bolts in.

 _Though if Fujiwara is right, it wouldn't hurt me anyway,_ Juudai thought wryly. He still didn't like that idea. It didn't seem fair. Part of what made a hero was that there had to be a chance of them losing. Having such an advantage took all the fun out of everything.

 _Yeah, and how many others are there out there like Fujiwara, who need help no one else can give them?_ he asked himself, and responded, _But why does it have to be me?_

Already he wished Fujiwara had never planted the idea in his mind. Maybe in time he could have convinced himself he had some power or another, enough to have something he could really use, and might have never worried about any other strange things that happened around him.

 _But I'd be sorry if I found out later, and knew there were things I could have done to help if I knew._

He gave himself a little shake, trying to get his thoughts to stop going in circles. Right now, they needed to see Fubuki. He could sort out the rest in his own time.

Fubuki was in his own private room, cut off from anything that might cause him any further distress. Juudai was unsurprised to see Asuka sitting next to him, watching him sleep. She jumped a little when she heard the door open.

"Oh, it's you," she said to Juudai. She started to turn her attention back to her brother, then stopped and glanced back. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Fujiwara Yuusuke," said Juudai.

Fujiwara gave her a polite bow. "You... probably don't remember me, but I used to be a friend of your brother's. When I... I heard he'd been hurt, I came to see if there was anything I can do."

She gave him a measuring look, apparently trying to fit him into some framework she could understand.

"Yes," she said thoughtfully, "now that you mention it, I feel like I have heard that name before... Are you a healer?"

"No," he said. "But my skill set is... unusual. There might be something I can do that a more traditional healer can't."

Asuka stood up to give him room. "Be my guest, then."

"You trust me, then?" he asked.

She shrugged. "No one who knew my brother could want to hurt him... and anyway, everyone else has already tried all the ordinary things. I'll take anything that will help him."

Fujiwara gave her a wan smile and moved closer to the bed. Fubuki didn't even twitch, not even when Yusuke took his hand in both of his.

"What happened to him, exactly?" Fujiwara asked.

Juudai gave him a faintly exasperated look. "How come you don't know? You knew all that stuff about me."

"I'm sorry," said Fujiwara, looking abashed. "I'm good at finding out things, but being as... restricted... as I was, I had to conserve my strength for the things I really needed to know. I was focusing all my energy on watching you. You were too far away to reach when this happened." He gave another one of his wry smiles. "You might say I'm a bit in the dark where the rest of the world is concerned."

Juudai sighed. "Okay, fair enough. This is how it is."

He explained as best he could, with Asuka filling in whenever he was uncertain or missing any details. Fujiwara listened intently, his lavender eyes grave.

"I see," he said. "That's interesting." Thoughtfully, he ran his fingers through his hair and stared up at the ceiling. "Have you consulted with Professor Daitokuji?"

"Should we?" Asuka asked. "He's not a healer. Actually, I don't know what he is."

"He's not a healer," said Fujiwara, "and if he has any powers, I don't know what they are. What he is, though, is a researcher, and I happen to know he specializes in methods of enhancing or dampening superpowers artificially. A pity he didn't work here when I attended, but by the time he got here it was already too late for me to get in touch with him. I watched over his shoulder a lot, though, when I could, hoping to find a hint I could use."

"Watched over his shoulder?" Asuka repeated, looking puzzled.

"Never mind. It isn't important now," said Fujiwara. "The important thing is that if Fubuki's S-levels are dropping after being injected with an unknown substance, as you say he was, then the first person I'd want to speak to about it is Professor Daitokuji. This is right up his alley."

Asuka started for the door. "I'll get him right away."

"No, that's okay," said Juudai. "You should stay with your brother. One of us can go get him. There's sure enough of us hanging around."

"I'd be happy to go," said Fujiwara. "It would be good to walk around campus again... enjoy the sunshine..."

"If you're sure," said Asuka, but she was already settling into her chair again with a look of gratitude.

Juudai led Fujiwara back out of the sick bay. He seemed to need leading. He was not, as far as Juudai understood, currently enrolled in the school, so he had nowhere else to go but to follow his savior around. He also seemed to be a little overwhelmed simply by being able to move freely. Juudai supposed that if he'd been living in a vortex of unending shadows, he'd be a little stunned by daylight, too. Still, it slowed him down more than he would have liked, having to haul a semi-dazed boy behind him as they made their way through the school's winding paths. At least at a school like this, nobody really noticed or cared if they saw an odd-looking boy in full costume being led around the school. They probably thought he was a prospective student or visiting relative.

At last, they reached the door of Daitokuji's office, and Juudai banged on it a couple of times before letting himself in. As far as he was concerned, if Daitokuji was doing something so important that he couldn't stand to be interrupted, he shouldn't have left his door unlocked. The professor gave a yelp of surprise as the door slammed against the wall and two boys barged in. A spasmodic gesture sent a heap of papers spilling across the floor, and Pharaoh, in typical cat fashion, immediately jumped off his master's desk to bat at them.

"Oh, dear," Daitokuji murmured, trying unsuccessfully to retrieve a paper his cat was sitting on.

"Sorry about that," said Juudai. "Didn't know you were busy."

"That's all right," said Daitokuji with a sigh. "I needed to rewrite that part anyway. What can I do for you, ah..." He pushed his glasses up his nose and peered nearsightedly at Fujiwara.

"Fujiwara Yuusuke," he supplied. "Pleased to meet you."

"I see," said Daitokuji. "It seems to me I may have heard your name before..."

Juudai was only half paying attention. He had never been inside his professor's work room before, and he was finding it interesting. The room had been small to begin with, but Daitokuji had crammed a desk, a work bench, and several shelves into the room as well, and any spare space had been packed with books, folders that bulged with papers, various scientific instruments, and other bits of bric-a-brac. If Daitokuji hadn't been such a lean man, he wouldn't have had room to move in the place. Juudai peered with interest at a famed photo that was half hidden by a jumble of coiled wires. It showed a group of heroes posing together in full costume. Juudai recognized a younger version of his teacher, probably fresh out of school, wearing a white bodysuit with a vaguely feline theme. Juudai nodded, satisfied. He'd always wondered if his teacher's powers had something to do with cats. Then he peered more closely at the rest of the group.

"Whoa," he said. "Isn't this Greenlight? And Trade Wind? You actually knew them?"

"A long time ago," said Daitokuji, fiddling nervously with his glasses. "I was on their support team for a few years. Working in the background, mostly. I never went out in the field unless there was no other choice. The other two in that photo are Bubble Wrap and Photocopy. They didn't last long either." He paused thoughtfully. "I think Bubble Wrap is working at a water park now."

"Cool," said Juudai. "So what did you do, anyway?"

"Things. Nothing useful," said Daitokuji. Briskly, he added, "But I know you didn't come to talk about old times. What can I do for you?"

"It's about Fubuki," said Fujiwara. "You know he's sick, right?"

"Yes, I'd heard," said Daitokuji. "But you know I'm not a healer, right? The best I can manage is a first aid kit."

"But you know about power suppressors," said Fujiwara. "And I'm almost sure that it's an artificial power suppressor that's making Fubuki so sick."

"Hm," said Daitokuji. "No one mentioned that to me. I'm assuming it's something chemical?"

Juudai nodded. "They hit him with some kind of dart full of stuff and he just keeled over."

Daitokuji jumped from his chair. "Well, why didn't anyone tell me sooner?"

"Why didn't you find out?" asked Juudai, not unreasonably, he thought.

Daitokuji ignored him. He was already rummaging through his cabinets and fetching things off shelves, shoving them all into a battered canvas bag. When it was filled to overflowing, he yanked the clasp shut and slung it over his shoulder before barreling towards the door. Juudai and Fujiwara didn't hesitate to scamper after them. Behind him, Juudai could hear the pattering of Pharaoh's paws as he raced to catch up.

They hadn't made it very far, though, before they became aware that something peculiar was going on. The path they were following curved along the edge of the coastline, so that they had a clear view of the beach and the harbor. It was hard to miss the helicopter that was hovering over the ocean, nor could they miss the fact that a black submarine seemed to have recently emerged from the water. Men in black suits were swarming out of it, and already several students were engaged in trying to block their progress. Gunfire crackled through the air, and the students responded with bursts of flame and blasts of concentrated light.

"What in the...?" Juudai exclaimed.

"Is someone actually invading an island full of nothing but superheroes?" Fujiwara wondered. "Armed with guns? Something isn't right here..."

"Look!" said Juudai, pointing.

The helicopter that hovered overhead had just opened its doors, and something was emerging from them, something dark with broad batlike wings.

"It's a diversion," Daitokuji murmured.

"Where's it going, though?" Juudai wondered. "We've gotta go find out!"

"What about Fubuki?" Fujiwara asked.

Juudai was already running up the path. "He's waited this long - he can wait a little longer. This is happening _now_!"

Fujiwara and Daitokuji gave each other doubtful looks. Then, neither of them looking happy about it, they both trotted after Juudai.

They caught up with the whatever-it-was just as it was arriving over the beach. Juudai could see it clearly now, and for a moment, he had to stop and blink at it to work out if he was really seeing what he thought he was seeing. At first, he'd assumed that what he saw was just a human in an extravagant costume - the kind of human who bore the mixed blessing of wings, but still a human. Now he wasn't so sure. It was partly the evidence of his eyes, and partly that weird new sixth sense that had emerged when he had been sunk in the darkness, but either way, he couldn't fight the uneasy feeling that the swathes of purple and black he could see on this creature's body weren't just the standard-issue skintight bodysuit, but its actual skin. It had claws glinting at the ends of its hands and feet, a wild shaggy head of hair, and - Juudai had to stare to be sure - three eyes. He'd never seen anything quite like it.

"What the heck is that?" he said. "There's something... wrong about it. Really, really wrong..."

"Now is not the time to worry about it," said Fujiwara sharply. "Look!"

He pointed down at the beach, where two figures stood tensed to flee or fight. One was the neatly dressed form of DD. Juudai wondered fleetingly what he was doing down there, and where Edo had gone off to. The other was clearly Marufuji Ryou.

"What are they doing here?" Juudai wondered.

"Never mind that," said Fujiwara, already hurrying down the beach. "Let's worry about helping them get rid of that _thing_."

"What...?" Juudai began, and then stopped as his memory clicked into place. Fujiwara had mentioned Ryou as one of his friends, hadn't he? Of course he'd want to go protect him, too, if he could.

The creature was very close now, hovering over Ryou and DD. They were shouting what Juudai assumed was the usual exchange of heroic banter, although distance, the crash of waves, and the whirring of the nearby helicopter was making it hard for him to decipher every word. The gist of it seemed to be that the creature was demanding that DD come with it, and DD was insisting that he would do no such thing. Juudai picked up his pace, skidding along the sand to arrive behind Fujiwara.

"Hey!" he shouted at the flying thing. "What are you doing, picking on these guys? Go away and leave them alone!"

The creature turned and stared at him. He stared at it. Juudai braced himself, prepared for the creature to strike at him with those gleaming claws, to batter him with his wings, to fire some blast of dark energy at him, but it did no such thing. It didn't even shout taunts at him, the way a proper villain should. It just stared at him, as though it couldn't quite believe what it was seeing. He had the oddest feeling it was waiting for him to do something.

And when it did speak, what came out wasn't a threat at all. The word was spoken almost gently, and it was the last thing Juudai expected to hear.

"Juudai?" it said.


	14. GRASP

A few minutes earlier, Yubel had been nervous.

For one thing, he'd never been in a helicopter before. The fact that he could fly himself now was not enough to cancel out a gut-deep fear that this peculiar contraption might not be able to hold him up and they'd all fall into the ocean before he could figure out how to escape this hovering tin can. Also, discounting that one brief bid for freedom, he hadn't been properly outside in months. He had never been outside at all in his new shape.

And he was going to Academy Island. Ever since he'd met Juudai, all he'd done was dream and dream of the day when he could finally go free and visit the place where he lived, and now that day was at hand. It wasn't happening the way he'd hoped it would but, still, he was _going_. Everything was finally going to be all right. All he had to do was finish this thing first. Then he'd have done what his captors wanted from him, and he'd be through. They would have to let him go, and then he could be with Juudai and everything would be all right again.

"You remember what he looks like, right?" asked Yubel's handler, a square-jawed man with a narrow mustache.

"I know," said Yubel tensely. How cold he forget? It wasn't like he got to see many people these days. He wasn't going to forget a face he'd seen so recently.

"Good," the man snapped. "Now, make it quick, but not _too_ quick. Don't just grab the guy and run. We don't want it looking too easy, you understand?"

Since Yubel had heard this a dozen times today, he just nodded, keeping his eyes on the window. The island was coming closer. It was very much the way Yubel had been imagining it, and he pressed his nose to the glass and stared. He thought it was the most beautiful place he'd ever seen. He wondered where Juudai was right now. In one of those buildings, maybe, having lessons? Or was it too late in the day to have lessons? Maybe he was down on the beach right now, watching this helicopter coming closer and wondering if this at last was his friend coming to join him...

Then the door was flung open, and Yubel had all he could do to concentrate on not being bowled over by the buffeting wind. Then someone shoved him roughly, and he stumbled towards the door and leaped out.

It was better outside the helicopter. His new wings bore him up easily, and once he was well away from the downdraft of the rotors, the air was mild and pleasant. Yubel drifted over the ocean, enjoying the fresh air and the feel of the sun on his skin. It occurred to him suddenly that he didn't _need_ to go back. He could stay here. He had wings, and they couldn't catch him once he was in the air. He should just go lose himself somewhere in the forest until they went away, and then...

Yubel's attention was attracted by a movement on the beach, and he drifted closer for a better look. Yes, there was the man he'd been sent to retrieve, just where they'd said he would be. There were others on the beach, too - a dark-haired man in white, a fair-haired man in black, and a tall, thin man with a long ponytail. And then there was... another. The other men were all running around and shouting, but Yubel had eyes for only one person. He veered in his flight to touch down on the sand in front of him.

"Juudai?" he said. His heart was racing. After all this time, they were finally together. He had waited for this moment for so long. Juudai was going to be so happy to see him.

Juudai frowned. "How do you know my name?"

Yubel stared at him. "Don't you remember me?"

"Why would I remember you?" Juudai snapped. "I've never seen you before in my life."

For a moment, Yubel couldn't process the words. They simply couldn't be true. Ever since he'd first met Juudai, Yubel had done nothing but dream of the day when Juudai would keep his promises, and the two of them would be together on this island. It was the thought that had kept him alive and determined to go on in the face of everything G.R.A.S.P. had thrown at him. It was the foundation of his world, and now here was Juudai telling him that none of it had mattered to him. He'd _forgotten_. The whole time Yubel had been suffering in his dark little prison, Juudai had been here in this beautiful sunlit place, making friends and having fun, and he'd forgotten all about Yubel. For a moment, it was too much to bear. It was the only thing that had been keeping him going, and now it was gone. What else could possibly matter, when Juudai was not only not glad to see him, but was glaring at him as if Yubel were the enemy here? For a moment, all Yubel wanted to do was collapse in the sand and give up.

The moment passed. Then, looking into Juudai's dark, accusing eyes, a new emotion crept over Yubel: anger. How _dare_ Juudai forget about him? How dare he not care about all Yubel had suffered? How dare he not keep his promises?

"You don't remember me?" Yubel said softly. "Then let me teach you."

* * *

Juudai stared at the apparition in front of him, trying to get a handle on his feelings. The most immediate was confusion. He was sure he'd never seen anything even remotely like this creature outside of a monster movie, but it looked so _sure_ he was supposed to remember it. He couldn't even have said _what_ it was, let alone _who_. But there was more than that bothering him. His new sixth sense was telling him that there was something wrong about this creature, something that never should have existed, and just having it near him was making him feel a little queasy. Beneath that, though, was another sense, one that was harder for him to identify: pity. Whatever this monster was, wherever it had come from, it was miserably unhappy. If only he knew why...

Then all those thoughts went onto the back burner as the monster suddenly lashed out at him with its razor-sharp claws. Juudai dove out of the way with a yelp. Hastily, he re-evaluated some of his earlier thoughts: having power over other people's powers was not particularly useful if they dispensed with the fancy stuff and just stabbed him.

"Watch yourself!" Fujiwara shouted at him.

"Trying!" Juudai shouted back.

Still, the attack seemed to have jarred everyone into action. Ryou vaulted into the air and flew at the monster, firing off several rounds of energy bolts. The creature batted them aside as if they were no more than flies, then blasted him with a fireball that sent him spinning off to one side to land half in the water. Fujiwara gave a cry of dismay and hurried to his side, helping him back to his feet. The creature ignored both of them and instead began advancing on Juudai once again.

"Hey, you! Leave him alone!" shouted DD, running up the beach toward them. "He's just a boy! If you want to pick a fight with someone, fight with me!"

The monster was not impressed by this valiant charge. It simply flicked a claw at him, firing off more fireballs. DD seemed taken by surprise by this. The attack hit him full-on, and he was thrown off his feet. Juudai scrambled, trying to find enough purchase in the sand to get out of the line of fire.

"Look," he said, "I don't know what I did to tick you off, but maybe we could talk about this instead of..."

The claws came down again. Juudai lunged out of the way and looked for somewhere to run, but found that his escape path was cut off by a cluster of rocks. He'd been backed into a corner. He looked up at the creature that was slowly advancing on him, its three eyes full of such rage and pain that for a moment he was unable to remember why he needed to get out of the way.

He remembered again when the creature raised a claw over its head.

Then something tackled it from the side. Juudai looked in amazement as he saw Professor Daitokuji careen into the monster and knock it off-balance. There wasn't anything impressive or skilled about it. It was just a wild, clumsy throw, with hair and gangly limbs flying and Daitokuji's glasses propelled off his face with the force of the impact, and for a moment Juudai wondered if somehow all Daitokuji's tinkering had robbed him of any powers he'd once possessed. For a moment the two of them, man and monster, looked so silly and awkward lying on the sand like that with their arms and legs and wings flopping wildly that it made Juudai want to laugh.

Then the creature managed to get a grip on Daitokuji and fling him off to one side. In a flash, the monster was upright again, crouched on all fours like an animal. Daitokuji had his eyes squinted nearly shut, and was fumbling around in the sand for his glasses, clearly blind and disoriented by his fall. He never saw the creature raise its claws and slash his throat.

Juudai's mind went blank. The world seemed very still, all of a sudden - silent save for the sound of the waves, empty save for the white sand and blue water and slowly spreading red stain. This island was a safe place. It was a place where children were supposed to play learning games under the watchful eyes of kindly teachers. No one ever got hurt here, not really. No one could ever get hurt here.

"How dare you!"

A roar of rage startled Juudai out of his shock, and he turned to see DD barreling down the beach towards the monster, hands already glowing with energy. He fired several blasts at the monster, blasts that simply bounced off its skin without obviously harming it. He tried again anyway, the bolts of light coming so thick and fast that for a moment it was impossible to see what he was shooting at. Then he collided with it, ramming his fists into its chest, and the two of them began to struggle. For a moment, Juudai thought that DD actually had the upper hand, but then somehow the monster managed to twist around and grab him, pinning his arms to his sides. He struggled wildly, but the monster's grip didn't so much as budge.

"Let go of me! You'll never get away with this!" he shouted.

The monster said nothing. For a moment, it almost seemed puzzled, as if it had forgotten what it had been planning to do in all the excitement. Then it looked at Juudai again, and for a moment its expression was one of utter desolation, as if it had just realized that there was nothing left that could give it any hope. Then it spread its wings and launched itself off the beach, taking DD with it.

"Hey! Come back here!"

There was a splashing further up the beach. Ryou had recovered from being knocked around and was back on his feet again, running in the direction of where the monster had been a split second before. He kicked off the sand and began flying after them, streaking through the air in the direction of the helicopter that still hovered expectantly over the ocean. The monster reached the doors first and tossed DD inside before ducking through the opening and vanishing. A moment later, Ryou reached the entrance, and something too far away for Juudai to see reached out and hauled him in, slamming the door behind it. Juudai waited for explosions or signs of battle, but nothing happened. The helicopter simply turned and began flying away, back towards the mainland.

It became very quiet on the beach.

Juudai wasn't sure how much time had passed, with him simply sitting and staring stupidly at the waves as they rolled in and out. His mind seemed to have shut down. There had just been too many surprises that day, and he had run out of the energy to deal with them. It was much easier to simply sit there pretending to be a rock.

He was jarred from his peaceful reverie by the sound of footsteps approaching him. Fujiwara was approaching - cautiously, as if half-afraid Juudai might explode if something jostled him.

"Are you all right?" he asked in his soft voice.

"I don't know," Juudai admitted. "What just happened? DD and Ryou and Daitokuji... they're..."

"I'm sorry," said Fujiwara. "I wish I could have done something, I'm not much of a fighter. I tried, but whatever that thing was, I couldn't get a grip on it somehow. There's something _wrong_ with it."

"I know," said Juudai vaguely.

Meanwhile, Edo was making himself useful. He'd taken out some sort of gizmo from his jacket pocket and was punching buttons on it. Whatever it said seemed to satisfy him, because he nodded and put the gadget back in his pocket. Then he knelt down beside Daitokuji and began swabbing up the blood with a handkerchief. Daitokuji's cat, who had been hiding throughout most of the chaos, padded down onto the beach to curl up on his master's chest and purr.

"Uh," said Juudai, feeling intensely awkward. "I don't think that's gonna do any good..."

"Well, sure, probably not," said Edo, rinsing the cloth in a nearby tide pool and starting again, "but it can't be very comfortable, being covered in blood like that. It's going to be itchy when it dries."

Juudai and Fujiwara stared at each other in blank incomprehension. Edo stared at them.

"Hang on," he said. "You really don't know, do you?"

"Know what?" Juudai asked.

There was a small cough. It came from Daitokuji. Edo looked rather pleased with himself.

"There. See?" he said proudly.

"Ooh," said Daitokuji. "I hate when that happens. Get off, Pharaoh, you're heavy..." He attempted to sit, gave up as Pharaoh made a little warning growl, and flopped back into the sand. "Did anyone see where my glasses went?"

Edo fetched the required article and passed it to Daitokuji, who slipped them on with a sigh of relief. Juudai and Fujiwara continued to stare.

"But... I don't get it," he said. "His throat was ripped out! He was dead! Even accelerated healing powers can't fix that!"

"You don't have to talk about me like I'm not here," said Daitokuji, a bit peevishly.

"You guys really need to do better research," said Edo. "Haven't you ever heard of the Ghost Cat?"

"Nope,," said Juudai. "You want me to remember names at a time like this?"

Edo gave him a scornful look. "That was Professor Daitokuji's hero name."

"Okay, great," said Juudai. "Cute name, but I don't see what that has to do with..."

"Oh!" said Fujiwara, expression clearing. "I get it now! Cats have nine lives, right?"

"More than nine," said Daitokuji. He sounded a bit sheepish. "I was very accident-prone as a child, always taking risks I shouldn't have. I didn't know I had any powers at all until the day some friends and I went exploring in an old abandoned house, and I fell down some rotten stairs and broke my neck. I woke up a few minutes later, though, good as new. A few years later, I was bicycling and got hit by a car. Woke up in the hospital with a tag tied around my toe, and nearly scared the life out of some poor nurse. Anyway, the point is that every time something kills me, I always come back. They started calling me the Ghost Cat after I came back for the tenth time. They said I'd already used up my nine lives, so I must be a ghost cat by now. A little joke."

Juudai did not think it was very funny.

"You could have said something!" he said.

Daitokuji fiddled with the arms of his glasses, which seemed to have gotten a bit bent in the scuffle. "I don't like to blab it around. I mean, what if there's a limit to the number of times I can come back? What if there's a way to kill me that will stick? And it isn't as if it's a very _useful_ talent. I'm no good in a fight. All I can really do is what I just did: make myself a shield so someone else can get away. And it still _hurts_." He looked sadly down at himself, his shirt still soaked in blood. "And it ruins my clothes."

"Great, wonderful. Glad that's all settled," said Edo. "Can we focus on the important thing here, please?"

"Oh, yeah," said Juudai. He shook himself, trying to free himself of the paralysis that had fallen over him when he'd seen his professor die. The fact that it had been temporary had not been enough to completely remove the trauma of seeing it. "Those guys took your dad."

"And Ryou," said Fujiwara. "We need to help them." His gaze drifted off towards the main building. "But we were going to help Fubuki, too..."

"DD needs us more," said Edo firmly.

"But how can we help him?" asked Juudai. "Those guys just took him and left. We don't even know where they went."

Edo grinned. "Yeah, we do. He and I always carry tracking devices, so we can find each other if something like this happens. You guys with your fancy powers always forget about the simple stuff. I can find him any time I want, as long as no one removes the tracker or blocks it somehow. And since they almost certainly will, I'd like to get moving before they get around to it."

Juudai frowned, thinking hard. He wasn't used to having to put so much effort into planning, but he could feel in his gut that it was important that they not just rush off. He just needed to understand why he felt that way so that he could tell everyone else.

"I think we should help Fubuki first," he said.

Everyone looked at him - Edo with profound annoyance, Daitokuji with interest, Fujiwara with faint approval.

"Why?" Edo asked.

"Because... I don't know," said Juudai. "Look, that thing that took DD, there was something really wrong about it, and I feel like it's the same sort of wrong that's going on with Fubuki. If that's true, then it might mean these are the same people who hurt him, and it means if we just go rushing after them, they might do to us what they did to him. They might be doing the same thing to DD and Ryou. We ought to know what it is and if there's a way to fix it or protect ourselves from it. Otherwise, we're just going to wind up like Fubuki, and that won't help anyone."

The others stared at him. Slowly, Daitokuji smiled.

"I always did think you were smarter than you let on, Juudai," he said. "And you're right. Let's go have a look at Mr. Tenjoin."

"But..." Edo began, and stopped. "Okay, fine, but this better not take too long."

"It will take as long as it takes," said Daitokuji. He carefully shifted his cat to his shoulder, with Pharaoh making little grunts of annoyance as he settled into his new place, and let Juudai and Fujiwara haul him to his feet. Juudai noticed that while his clothing was still a gory mess, the skin underneath was smooth and undamaged. It made his smile rather less reassuring than usual. "I know what you're thinking, Edo. You're thinking that it's safe for you to go because you have no powers of your own. But that's not really true, is it? Your S-levels are less than one hundred, but you _do_ have them. They make you faster and stronger than most people and give you quicker reflexes - just enough to do you some good. That also means you'll have the same weakness as Fubuki. If they hit you with whatever chemical they've injected him with, you'll be in the same fix. That won't do your father any good. Now, be sensible."

He continued smiling. Edo was the one to back down.

"Fine," he said. "Let's go."

They hurried to the infirmary. Later, Juudai reflected that it might not have been a waste of time to stop off by Daitokuji's rooms and let him change his clothes. As it was, it took some time to get the nurse to calm down and stop shrieking when she saw the state of his shirt. It was only after she'd been quieted down and Daitokuji had agreed to go wash up and put on a clean set of hospital scrubs that they were permitted to visit Fubuki's bedside.

"What kind of bloodwork have you done on him?" asked Daitokuji briskly. The rest of the group - Juudai, Edo, Fujiwara, Asuka, and all those who had been involved in Misawa's rescue - were jammed into the small hospital room, looking on with interest. Juudai was fascinated. Daitokuji had always struck him as a pleasant man, but with maybe not a lot on the ball - a typical absent-minded professor, in other words. Now he was in his element, and he radiated calm assurance. The nurse, Miss Ayukawa, handed him a clipboard, which he glanced over with professional interest.

"I'm going to need more blood samples," he said. He was already opening his box of materials and laying things out.

"Right away," Miss Ayukawa replied.

Deftly, she drew several small vials of blood and passed them to Daitokuji. Juudai and his friends leaned in closer to watch as he ran the samples through small machines, or mixed them with chemicals to see how they'd react. If time hadn't been so short, the performance would have been fascinating. As it was, Juudai had to resist the temptation to just rush out of the room and leave the professor to get on with it.

"Well?" he asked, when he couldn't stand it any longer.

"I think you're right," said Daitokuji. "He's definitely been injected with power inhibitors. I'll have to do some more work to get the exact recipe, but I think I have most of the main ingredients worked out."

"Does that mean you can fix it?" asked Asuka.

"Possibly," said Daitokuji. "I'll be honest - the damage might be permanent. The best I can do is counteract anything that might still be lingering in his system."

"It won't be permanent. I won't let it." The words were out of Juudai's mouth before he realized he was going to say them.

Daitokuji looked at him keenly, but all he said was, "I'll do my best, then. Give me a moment."

He consulted with Miss Ayukawa for a moment, and then he withdrew to another room with his chemistry kit. When he returned, he had a syringe filled with purple fluid.

"Well, here goes," he said, and injected the liquid into Fubuki's arm.

There was no immediate reaction. Asuka made a little stifled noise.

"Be patient," Daitokuji advised her. "These things take time."

"It will be all right," said Fujiwara. "Fubuki's resilient. You'll see."

Juudai was only vaguely paying attention to this bit of byplay. Instead, all his focus was on Fubuki. When he'd first walked into the room, he realized, there had been something _inert_ about Fubuki, like a lamp that had burned out or an engine that was out of gas. Now there was the faintest stirring of energy. Juudail leaned in closer, trying to get a better feel of that sense of something happening, something giving way. Was it just his imagination, or was there a better color creeping into Fubuki's cheeks? Was his breathing just a little bit steadier?

"Hey, cool it, guys," he said. "I think he's coming around!"

Everyone quieted. All eyes turned to stare at Fubuki. For a few seconds, nothing more happened, but Juudai continued to stare at him so intently that no one else dared to move. Then, slowly, Fubuki drew in a deep breath and twitched slightly. He opened his eyes, then quickly shut them again.

"Geez, it's bright in here," he complained.

"Fubuki!" Asuka explained, and pushed her way past Juudai to take her brother's hand.

"What's goin' on?" he mumbled. "I don't feel so good today."

"It's all right," said Daitokuji. "I'm sure you'll start feeling better soon."

"So we know we've got a cure that works," said Edo. He sounded relieved, and Juudai couldn't blame him. Edo must have been wondering what these kidnappers were doing to his father just now. Knowing there was a cure had to be a load off his mind.

"At least partially," said Daitokuji. "I'm going to work on refining my solution and see if I can't come up with something that will help protect you."

"Right," said Juudai. He looked around the room. "Guess we'd better get ready, then. We'll be leaving as soon as we've got a team together."

Edo rounded on him, clearly annoyed that Juudai was usurping what he viewed as his mission. "And just how were you planning on getting off this island?"

Juudai returned the glare with a puzzled look.

"Well," he said, "you have a boat, don't you?"

* * *

When Ryou had first seen the creature that had attacked DD, he'd had a script already in mind. He knew how this scene was supposed to play: he and the whatever-it-was would have a dramatic battle over the water, he would win, the monster would fall into the sea, Ryou would rescue DD, and everyone would see him as a hero. His reputation would be restored. This was clearly how Saiou's prediction had been meant to work out. He wasn't quite sure how Fubuki's recovery fitted into it yet, but presumably once he'd vanquished whatever mooks were running this operation, it would give the heroes the leverage to find out what they'd done to Fubuki and how to undo it. Everything was going to work out.

Unfortunately, the monster didn't seem to be cooperating. Nothing Ryou threw at it had any effect on it. He had the frustrating sensation that it was barely even paying attention to him. Nothing he had tried had worked, and in the end, he'd found himself beaten and hauled into this helicopter that was taking him who-knew-where. He tugged at the bonds that were holding him to the wall of the helicopter, but he already knew it was a lost cause. The material seemed to be a relative of the power dampeners they put on people like Saotome Rei or Saiou Takuma, and no matter what he did, he couldn't break them. The monster that had attacked him had been hustled off into some sort of containment cell at the back of the aircraft, leaving Ryou and DD alone. Ryou glanced at him now, wondering why _he_ wasn't chained up when Ryou was bound hand and foot.

Ryou had always done very well in his lessons. It didn't take him long to come up with an answer.

"Would you like to explain to me what this is really all about?" he asked calmly.

DD smiled. "Edo always did say you were something special. I can see he isn't wrong."

"Cut the flattery," said Ryou tersely. "Why did you stage this? _How_ did you stage this?"

"That's rather a long story," said DD. "Fortunately, we have a bit of a flight ahead of us, so I'll tell it if you really want to know. Or would that be too much like villainous grandstanding?"

Ryou glared at him. "Does Edo know about this?"

DD immediately sobered. "No. Absolutely not. This has nothing to do with him."

"But you came to visit him," said Ryou.

"That was just an excuse," said DD. "If he hadn't been there, I would have found another reason. Suffice to say, it was important that I be here, and visiting Edo gave me a plausible reason."

"Why was it important?" Ryou replied.

"Answering that would require my explanation," said DD. "Do you want it or not?"

Ryou considered his situation. Right now, he was trapped, with no way to either escape or fight back, or even to defend himself. All his training said that the thing to do was to pump the villain for information and hope he would spill something that Ryou could use against him later.

"All right," he said at last. "Talk."

"Very well," DD replied. He settled more comfortably into his seat. "Have you ever heard of an organization called G.R.A.S.P.?"

"Can't say that I have," said Ryou offhandedly. Actually, he _had_ heard of it, at least tangentially, mostly in news reports speculating as to whether or not they'd had something to do with a crime or disappearance. Very little seemed to be actually known about them, but what reputation they had wasn't good. "Their logo is clever, I suppose. That's all I can really say."

"It stands for Group Researching Artificial Super Powers," DD explained. "We've been working on various projects for years. Would you believe that when I started out, my S-levels were half what they are now? We've had great success in improving the skill sets of people whose S-levels aren't quite what they should be."

Ryou was beginning to have an unsettled feeling in the pit of his stomach. He tried not to let his suspicions show on his face. "Is that a fact? I'd always heard such a thing was impossible."

"It isn't impossible - only difficult. If you're willing to bear the pain, you can reap some amazing benefits," DD replied.

"Why haven't you shared this with Edo?" Ryou asked. "He strikes me as the kind who'd be willing to bear anything to push past his limitations."

DD's expression clouded. In that moment, Ryou knew everything he'd been guessing was true.

"It was you," he said softly. "You killed Edo's father to get his notes on artificially induced superpowers. That's why you can't tell him. He'd guess right away."

"He would," DD agreed. He looked almost regretful. "I've always been sorry about that. His life would have been so much happier if I'd be able to share what I've learned with him."

"His life would have been happier if his father hadn't been _murdered_ ," Ryou snapped.

DD just looked at him blankly, as if Ryou had been talking gibberish. Ryou found himself wondering just what the man had been doing to himself all these years. Yes, perhaps he'd been able to increase his powers, but at what cost? What sort of drugs had he been ingesting, anyway?

"It had to be done," said DD at last. "Mr. Phoenix was a brilliant man, but he was a dreamer. He would have continued refining his ideas forever and never gotten any closer to actually putting them into practice. Someone had to step in, for the good of the world at large. I wouldn't have hurt him if he'd just been willing to see reason."

"Fine," said Ryou. "So you got your science. It works. Now what are you trying to do?"

"Isn't it obvious?" DD replied. "It's not enough to be able to increase the power levels of people who already have powers. I've been studying ways of giving powers to people who started out with none at all... or removing them from people who already have them."

Ryou thought of Fubuki lying still and silent back at the infirmary. Suddenly it all made sense. _This_ was why Saiou had told him to make deals with an authoritative stranger. Ryou was meant to bargain with the man who held the secret to what had made Fubuki sick - and so, perhaps, the secret to what would make him well again. Even more, Ryou could be the one to stop the same thing from happening to anyone else.

To deflect any thoughts DD might be having along those lines, Ryou said, "People have been trying to figure out how to give powers to normals for years. Why should I believe you've figured it out?"

"Well, I can't take all the credit," said DD modestly. "But I can say with confidence that I have good reason to believe in the success of our project. In face, you just met living proof."

Ryou was taken aback. "You mean that thing that attacked us was..."

"His name is Yubel," said DD. "He's our prize experiment - the very first normal we've been able to successfully graft superpowers onto."

Ryou thought of the creature who had attacked him on the beach. It was one thing to be born a super and know from the beginning that you were going to be something out of the ordinary, and something else entirely to spend your whole life being ordinary and have someone turn you into _that_ without so much as a by-your-leave. Ryou rather doubted that Yubel had been given the full disclosure beforehand, or much choice in whether or not he'd be allowed to go through with it.

"That's... rather impressive," said Ryou carefully. "Did you have any control over how those powers manifested, or did things just happen that way?"

DD shrugged. "We were hoping to get the standard assortment - strength, speed, flight, maybe some kind of energy weapon. It didn't quite work the way we were expecting, but it worked well enough. There will be time to refine the process later on."

"I see," said Ryou, trying to keep his voice level. "That's... interesting."

DD gave him a thin smile. "I'm sensing a certain lack of enthusiasm. Edo told me that you're the sort who keeps his feelings to himself, but somehow I'm not convinced that's what this is. I think you don't approve of my experiments."

 _Damned right, I don't,_ Ryou thought.

"Excuse me if I'm not feeling particularly enthusiastic right now," he said sarcastically. "I'm not at my best when people capture me and chain me to a wall. It tends to rob me of my reserves of sympathy."

"The restraints are only a precaution," said DD. "Let me be honest with you. I know better than to trust you without some guarantee of good behavior. On the other hand, I think we could be of use to each other."

Ryou raised an eyebrow. "And what use could you be to me?"

"Come, now. Weren't you just telling me all your problems?" DD replied. "This is my answer. I can help you. I can share my technology with you and help you to adapt your own powers so that nothing will ever be able to stand up to you again. I can even give you what you'll need to help your friend. All I ask in return is that you keep my secrets and be willing to help with one or two of my projects. I can always use a few helpers to help with retrieving research material."

Ryou hesitated. All his training said that a hero never cooperated with a villain, and this was obviously a villain, even if he was in hero's clothing. The heroic thing to do would be to declare that he would never ally with someone like this. The less heroic but still intelligent thing to do would be to pretend to go along with the villain's scheme, earn his trust, and then turn on him. That sort of behavior wasn't exactly encouraged, but it was still an option. For just a moment, though, Ryou had been tempted. Maybe it was because of the way Yubel had been able to dodge him so easily, had brushed off his attacks like they were nothing. Ryuu knew he was supposed to be one of the strongest heroes in the world, with S-levels approaching those of immortals like Mutou Yuugi and Kaiba Seto. It galled him that even with all his power and training, he kept losing. Was it possible that these people had the secret that would help him become the hero he knew he was destined to be?

 _I wouldn't be doing it for me. I'd be doing it for Fubuki,_ he told himself. _He'd understand, if he knew._

Something of what he was thinking must have shown on his face. DD smiled and crossed the cargo hold to undo his bonds. Ryou stood slowly, rubbing at his wrists where the shackles had chafed him.

"So," said DD, "is it a deal?"

He held out his hand. Ryou contemplated for a moment. There were a lot of things he could have done at that point. He could have waited for a chance to escape, flown back to the island, and rallied help. He could have deferred the choice and simply waited and hoped that his friends would rescue him. He could have made the valiant, noble, stupid sacrifice and declared he would never ally himself with the people who'd hurt his friend. He could have lied.

Ryou took DD's hand.

"It's a deal." he said.

* * *

Daitokuji sat by Fubuki's bedside, monitoring the patient's vitals and taking notes. Fubuki was sitting up in bed now, still too weak to stand very long on his own, but he was awake and talkative, and eager to hear everything that had been going on while he'd been out. Daitokuji had filled him in as best he could while keeping most of his attention on medical matters. This was the most fun he'd had in years - a real challenge right in his line. How often did something like that come along?

"Stop squirming," he scolded gently. "I still want to run a few more tests."

"But you've run a bunch already!" Fubuki protested. "And these tubes are starting to get on my nerves." He gestured to the IV that was still dripping medicine into his arm.

"Don't push yourself too hard," Daitokuji cautioned. "I know you're feeling better, but that's no reason to exhaust yourself. Your sister would never forgive me if she came back here and found you had relapsed."

"Am I going to relapse?" Fubuki asked.

"We can hope not," said Daitokuji. "You'll be less likely to if you settle down and behave."

Fubuki pouted, but he clearly didn't feel up to arguing. He settled back against his pillows and stared thoughtfully up at the ceiling. It was clearly a sign that he wasn't up to full strength yet, that he was giving up so easily. Daitokuji went back to studying his test results. The stuff Fubuki had been injected with was truly remarkable - a genuine triumph of science, except for the fact that it nearly killed people. If you could get around the debilitating effects somehow...

When he first heard the footsteps, he assumed that it was only Miss Ayukawa returning. She had stepped away a few minutes ago to tend to some of the students who had been injured in the scuffle on the pier, and he'd been expecting her to return any minute now. It took him a few seconds to realize that these weren't a woman's steps. A student, come to look for the doctor? Or was it...

"Hey!" Fubuki yelped. "What the heck are you doing here?"

Daitokuji turned in his seat, dropping his notepad and pencil in surprise. Three strange men in dark uniforms were pushing their way through the door.

"You can't come in here!" he blurted. "This is a sickroom!"

He realized, of course, that this was a foolish thing to say, but it had just slipped out of him. The men laughed.

"Sorry, doc," said one of them. "We're just here to take a patient off your hands."

Daitokuji backed towards Fubuki's bed, putting himself between his patient and the interlopers. "Actually, you really don't need to do that. He's feeling much better already, so..."

"That's for us to decide," said the lead man. He slipped a gun from its holster and leveled it. "Now, are you gonna do this the easy way or the hard way?"

Daitokuji looked around, frantically searching for help.

 _Where's a ray gun when you need one?_ He drew in a deep breath and tipped back his head.

"Intruders!" he shouted, as loudly as his reedy voice could manage. "Intruders in the infirmary! Danger! Intru..."

The gun went off. It hit his shoulder and sent him staggering backwards, where he collapsed across Fubuki's bed in an undignified heap. Somewhere in the haze of pain and fear, a tiny part of his mind that was still holding on to his clinical detachment found the energy to hope he hadn't pulled out Fubuki's IV.

"Hey!" Fubuki yelped. "Leave him alone!"

Though half-closed eyes, Daitokuji saw Fubuki raise his hands and conjure a spray of ice. The cold momentarily soothed the pain in Daitokuki's shoulder, but it didn't seem to do much to slow down the invaders. Poor Fubuki, who had once been strong enough to cover a significant portion of the school in two feet of snow, was still too weak to do more than air condition the room.

The goons recoiled a little when the ice spray went out, but when it had subsided into a chilly mist, they clustered around the bed again.

"Get him on the stretcher," the lead one barked.

"But he's all wired up with tubes and things."

"Just pull 'em out. The med team can figure out what to do with him when we get him on the sub."

 _Sub? They came here on a submarine?_ Through the haze of shock and blood loss, Daitokuji tried to force himself to think. There were plenty of places at the far side of the island, rocky little coves where a submarine might be hidden, and no buildings that might contain anyone who could inconveniently notice anything.

 _All this was set up. The raid on the beach was just to get everyone looking that way and worrying about something else. They think I'm taking care of Fubuki. It might be hours before they realize he's gone..._

He had to do something. He needed help. As the thugs yanked Fubuki off of his bed and dragged him onto a stretcher, Daitokuji tried to gather himself to move.

"We don't need any witnesses," said one of the thugs. "Get rid of him."

"Right," said another, and raised his gun. "Hold still, you."

 _Rats, not again,_ Daitokuji thought resignedly, and for the second time that day, he died.


	15. The Ship Has Sailed

Edo did have a boat. It was moored in the marina just now, awaiting a load of passengers. The boat waited patiently; Edo, not quite so much.

"I don't see why I have to be the one to do this," he muttered.

"No one else had a boat," said Juudai. "Stop complaining. If we don't do this fast before everyone stops panicking, they'll make us be reasonable and stay here, and we don't have time for that."

Edo blinked at him. "You know, there was a glimmer of logic in there, but I wouldn't want to try to guess where. Okay, you win, you can use my boat, but we're not bringing the whole school with us."

"Well, sure we aren't," said Juudai. "We're just bringing our friends."

Edo raised an eyebrow. " _Our_ friends?"

Juudai thought about answering and decided to let it pass. He had a sense that time was fleeting, and he wanted all his friends on the boat and out of the harbor before it ran out. It wasn't just that he was afraid the adults would catch him and stop him, it was that he was worried about what might be happening to DD and Ryou. He was also a little worried that the longer they dallied, the more likely it was that Edo would change his mind or that some of their co-conspirators would lose their nerve. He wanted as many people on his side as possible. He knew they were only kids and barely trained, and numbers would be one of the few advantages they could muster.

"Our team," he said firmly.

Edo seemed to consider this. Then he sighed.

"Fine," he said. "Whatever. I'll be waiting on the boat."

He stomped down the pier. Juudai let him go. He remembered Edo's temper from the last mission they'd gone on, and imagined he'd cool down and be ready to cooperate after he'd had time to unwind. Juudai sat on the end of the pier, stared out at the water, and wished he knew when _he_ would unwind.

He was roused from his daze by the sound of pounding feet. He was unsurprised to turn around and see a Tyrannosaurs stomping its way up the path, with two tiny figures clinging to it. When it skidded to a halt with a great thrashing of its tail, the two of them slid down its back and landed more or less upright on the ground. Juudai bounded to his feet and jogged over to join them.

"How'd it go?" he asked.

"We got most of them," said Rei proudly. Martin, looking rather winded from the wild ride, managed to nod shakily in agreement.

Kenzan shrank back down to his natural form, rolling his shoulders as if carrying two passengers for so long had given him a crick in his back.

"They make a pretty good team," he said. "Anyone Rei couldn't sweet talk, Martin yelled at."

Juudai nodded. "That's what I figured. So they're coming?"

"As many as we could get," Martin agreed.

"Great," said Juudai. "Go ahead and get on the boat. I'll wait here for the rest of the team to show up."

The three of them nodded and scampered up the gangplank. Juudai waited a moment to be sure Edo wasn't about to throw them off again, then settled in for his vigil. He wondered how many of them would actually show up, even with Rei and Martin's considerable persuasive abilities urging them on. They'd already seen what had happened to Fubuki, and more recently, what had happened to Professor Daitokuji and Ryou. The reasonable thing to do would be to assume he was crazy and decide to stay far, far away.

But it looked like at least some people were going to go along with him. The first to arrive was Manjoume, looking grumpy but still striding determinedly up the road. Juudai grinned.

"Hey, you made it!" he said.

"Don't start thanking me," Manjoume growled. "I just owe you for dealing with that guy for me."

Juudai grinned. "Well, anyway, glad to have you aboard!"

He had only just made it onto the ship when another cluster of people arrived on the pier: Asuka, Misawa, Taniya, and Fujiwara.

"Hey, guys!" Juudai called out to them. "How's Fubuki doing?"

"Almost back to normal," said Asuka. "Professor Daitokuji and Miss Ayukawa are looking after him, and when I left he was improving by the minute."

"I'm glad to hear it," said Juudai. "You're okay leaving him, then?"

She nodded. "I know he's in good hands. Now it's time for me to pay back the people who hurt him."

"And we weren't going to let her go without backup," said Misawa. "You're going to need a coordinator on a mission of this scope."

"And some muscle," Taniya agreed. "Besides, this looks like the most fun to come along in a while, and I want in."

Juudai grinned. "The more the merrier!"

Fujiwara smiled shyly. "I hope that means me too? I'd really like to do something to make up for all the trouble I've caused."

"Anybody who wants to come can come," said Juudai decisively.

The four of them clambered aboard the ship. Juudai settled back to wait some more, feeling a bit more relaxed. Even if everyone he'd invited didn't show up, at least now he knew he'd have some kind of crew.

But he need not have worried. Over the next few minutes, Hayato, Johan Anderson, Austin O'Brien, and Jim Cook all showed up and pronounced themselves ready and willing to help.

 _I think that's everyone I said to invite,_ he mused, going over the list in his mind. _Now I just have to wait for..._

"Hey!" a voice somewhere above him exclaimed.

Juudai looked up. Edo had apparently gotten over his annoyance, and was now leaning on the railing of his boat, looking back up the path. Whatever he was seeing, it had ruffled his customary calm, enough that Juudai turned around to try to figure out what he was staring at.

Someone was walking slowly down the path. It was not someone Juudai recognized - a young man with a pale face and long, dark hair. While Juudai was still figuring out what to make of him, a pounding of footsteps caused him to turn around, just in time to see Edo racing down the gangway.

"Saiou, what are you doing here?" he exclaimed.

"Offering my services," said the newcomer with a small smile. "Hello, Edo. I trust you have a room I can use?"

"Of course, use whatever you want," said Edo, "but why are you here at all? Don't you think we can handle this ourselves?"

"Let us say that I see certain advantages in offering my services," Saiou replied. He turned slightly, fixing Juudai with his intent violet eyes. "You know what I will want in exchange, don't you?"

Juudai swallowed, suddenly ill-at-ease. "I don't know if I can..."

"All I ask is that you try," said Saiou quietly.

Edo was looking rapidly back and forth between the two of them, his expression registering confusion and frustration.

"What are you two talking about?" he asked. "What did I miss?"

"That's something you should be asking Juudai to explain," said Saiou. He turned back to Juudai. "So, will you?"

Juudai took a few steps closer and gave Saiou a careful once-over. Now that he'd dealt with Fujiwara, he knew what to look for. The marks were much more subtle on Saiou, but if Juudai really focused, he could see the fine hairline cracks where power was seeping out. The restraints he'd been kept under had probably slowed their progress, but Juudai had no doubt that in another ten or twenty years, they'd be looking at another scenario like the one Fujiwara had gotten himself into.

"I think I can do it," said Juudai. "Do you want me to try now?"

Saiou shook his head. "Not yet. The start of an important mission is not the time to go changing things. When this is all over, then we can make the attempt."

"Attempt what?" Edo demanded.

"That is for Juudai to explain in his own time," said Saiou.

Edo glared at Juudai. "Well, you'd better explain it, then."

"Yes," said Saiou, "I think that would be for the best."

Juudai fought back a sigh. This, he thought, was exactly what he'd been afraid would happen if knowledge of his power ever leaked out. People were already lining up to have him fix their problems.

"I'll tell him once we're under way," he promised.

"Then let's get underway already," said Edo irritably. "Who else are we waiting for? We've already got more people than I planned on - I don't know where they're all going to fit."

"Don't worry," said Juudai, being as soothing as he could. "I think there's only one more, and he's small."

"Oh, right, your little sidekick," said Edo. "Ryou's kid brother," he added as an afterthought. "Are you sure he really ought to be doing this? I mean, personal involvement with a mission..."

"This is your dad we're rescuing, too," Juudai pointed out.

Edo scowled. One of the things they taught in class was that a hero should avoid getting into situations where their own friends and loved ones were the ones who needed rescuing. It led to making impulsive decisions on the side of the heroes, and sometimes resulted in the villains creating more destruction than they might have otherwise because they were sure their opponent wouldn't try to stop them. Much better, the texts all said, to stand back and let someone else handle it. Edo knew that. It was just that, like most heroes, he preferred to think the advice didn't apply to him.

"I'll wait another fifteen minutes," he said, starting back to the boat. "After that, we're pulling out whether he's on board or not. Or if you're there, for that matter."

"He'll be here," said Juudai, with as much confidence as he could muster.

"Hmph," said Edo, and dragged Saiou onto the boat.

Juudai settled down to wait again. He couldn't blame Edo for being impatient. He both desperately wanted to get underway, and desperately wished he hadn't seen any of this happening so he could have just not worried about it. He wondered if this was how Ryou had felt when he'd been sent on his first mission. What was he feeling now?

A rushing sound interrupted his thoughts, and he glanced up in time to see Shou skidding to a halt next to him. Juudai glanced at his phone, and noted that he'd made it with three minutes to spare.

"Did you do like I asked you?" Juudai inquired.

Shou nodded, slightly breathless. "I did the best I could. People didn't really understand what I wanted, and I wasn't sure how to explain it..."

"As long as it all got done," said Juudai. "Come on, we'd better go before the boat leaves."

Tired and breathless as he was, Shou still found the energy to grin. "He wouldn't have gotten far without me."

Instead of explaining, he jumped into the air, and continued going up. He grabbed Juudai by the collar of his jacket and hauled him up after him. Juudai laughed as Shou deposited him gently on the deck of the boat. Shou laughed too, continuing to gently hover in the air next to him.

"Looks like you did okay," said Juudai. He gave Shou a friendly slap on the shoulder, and watched as Shou began drifting towards the cabin and barely managed to stop himself from crashing into it.

"Hey!" he protested. "I haven't got the hang of this yet!"

Juudai looked at him curiously. "Why don't you land, then?"

"Well, uh..." said Shou, nervously readjusting his glasses, "I'm kind of scared if I land, I won't be able to get back in the air again."

"Aw, you'll be fine," said Juudai. "You were on the ground before and you took right off."

"But what if it doesn't work the next time?" Shou asked.

"Then we'll figure something else out," said Juudai.

Edo peeked out of the cabin and gave them an irritated look. "Are you two ready to leave or not?"

"We're ready," said Juudai.

"As we'll ever be," said Shou

"Fine," said Edo, ducking back into the cabin. "Let's get this freak show underway."

A moment later, there was a rumble as the ship's engines came to life, and it began sliding smoothly out of the harbor. Soon it was picking up speed, cutting across the waves and sending out long trailing sprays. Juudai leaned on the railing and watched the island shrink behind him. He thought about the first time he'd crossed this ocean on a boat - how excited he'd been, and how certain he was that anything could happen. Well, now it had. He sighed a little.

 _Maybe I should have paid more attention in class._

* * *

The helicopter had landed. Ryou wasn't exactly sure _where_ it had landed, though. The problem with so many superheroes is that most of them liked to have secret bases, so the world was liberally strewn with hidden helicopter pads and air strips. This one was more visible than most, on top of a tallish building with a generic company name plastered across the front. Ryou had to admit that as far as hiding in plain sight went, it wasn't doing too badly.

"What is this place supposed to be?" Ryou asked his host.

DD looked amused. "You mean our front? Supposedly this building is dedicated to technological development. That covers almost everything, and people don't think about it very hard."

Ryou made a mental note to pay more attention to his surroundings in the future, especially to businesses whose purpose wasn't immediately obvious.

He was dimly aware that the flying creature who had attacked him earlier was moving to stand behind him, and he half-turned for a better look. Up close, the monster didn't look terribly imposing. It looked... uncertain, like someone who is wondering if perhaps everyone has forgotten their birthday and is trying to figure out how to bring it up.

"Am I... done now?" it asked.

DD shot it a look. "The mission is over, if that's what you mean?"

"So can I go?" it asked, eyes wide and pleading. "Are you done with me?"

"Done?" DD repeated. "What makes you think I'd be done with you?"

"I did what you wanted," said Yubel, a tinge of desperation in his voice. "I did everything you told me to do. I'm done now, right?"

"No," said DD flatly. "You can get that idea out of your head right now. You belong to G.R.A.S.P. The last thing I need is you leading the authorities back here."

Ryou watched expressions flash across Yubel's face - shock, disbelief, anger, despair. Anger won out, and his face twisted with fury. With a wordless cry, he lunged at DD, claws extended. Ryou's instinct took over, and he dove forward to try to block the attack.

He need not have bothered. With a swift movement, DD batted the attack aside with one hand and drove his other fist into Yubel's chest. Yubel was flung backwards, into the waiting arms of a few guards. He writhed in their grip, but they were clearly used to dealing with him, and simply struck him with electric batons until he slumped into stillness. Ryou stared. The whole thing had only taken a few seconds.

"I'm sorry about that," said DD, as Yubel was dragged unceremoniously into the building. "It's not the sort of first impression I'd have liked to have made. I hope you won't let it prejudice you against us."

"Of course not," Ryou murmured.

 _Now, what was that all about?_ he asked himself, as he let DD lead him deeper into the building. He'd assumed that the monster was a willing member of the conspiracy. Apparently he had his own agenda. Did that make him a possible ally? Or was he too much of a threat to be worth the risk?

 _Definitely worth thinking about._

It was much quieter than Ryou had expected inside the building. He'd somehow imagined a hive teeming with busy minions, all scuttling about furtively on their nefarious errands. In reality, it was all very quiet, seemingly abandoned. As DD and his crew made their way down the halls, Ryou managed to steal a glance inside one of the offices they passed. There was a desk, a chair, a computer, a wastepaper basket, a utilitarian set of blinds pulled closed. The room was ready to be occupied and used at a moment's notice, but if anyone ever had, they had left no trace of it. Curious, he checked a few more. One or two showed signs of use - a few crumpled scraps of paper in the trash cans, pens left scattered on a desk - but none of them had anyone actually inside them.

"Where is everyone?" he asked.

"Ah, we don't use the upper floors very often," DD said. "They're mostly for show. If we know someone is going to be touring the offices, we might perhaps put a few people on the bottom floor where they can be seen, but most of the work gets done elsewhere."

Which, Ryou reflected, was not an answer.

 _He's not stupid. He's making a show of accepting me, but he doesn't trust me yet._ That thought made him uneasy, and he tried not to dwell on it. What he needed to do now was to keep his attention on what was going on around him.

DD escorted him to an elevator. Ryou was aware of how the men who had been escorting them arranged themselves so that they were all behind him, herding him into the enclosed space, cutting off his exits. Ryou tried to tell himself that it would be no problem to fight his way past them if he had to, or blast through the roof of the elevator and escape, but he didn't quite believe it. He'd seen how DD had devastated his monster with a single punch. Starting a combat situation in close quarters might not be the best idea.

"Take that," said DD, pointing to the still-dazed monster, "back to its cell. If it gives you any trouble, do whatever you need to do to settle it down again. I'll be escorting our guest here to his new quarters."

The men saluted and dragged their captive away. Ryou watched them go, and was surprised to find himself wondering what was going to happen to the poor creature. Terrifying as it was, he had a sense it was also terrified. Whatever they were going to do to "settle it down", he didn't think it was going to involve reassuring words and a warm drink.

"You know," said DD conversationally, "you might want to try being a shade less obvious."

"What do you mean?" Ryou asked.

"I mean, if you want me to believe you're genuinely on my side, you probably shouldn't make it so clear you're thinking about where the exits are," said DD. "I can practically hear you thinking that the guards are gone now, and this might be your chance to make a break for it."

Ryou forced a smile. "What can I say? I have my training. Old habits die hard."

"Good answer," said DD, smiling. "Clearly you learned your lessons well in school. It makes me feel better about sending Edo there. I would hate to think his training had been inadequate."

"And you can't train him yourself," said Ryou mildly.

"Not yet," DD agreed. "I still haven't gotten everything arranged the way I want it. Eventually, when my research is perfected, I'll have someone set up to take the blame for Edo's father's death. Then I'll tip Edo off, Edo will have his revenge and the fruits of his father's labors to comfort him. I'm even willing to let old man Phoenix have the credit for my discoveries. It's enough for me that I enjoy the profits."

"How very generous of you," Ryou murmured.

"Your sarcasm is not appreciated," said DD.

The elevator reached its goal. Ryou had lost track of how far they had gone, only that they had been progressing swiftly and steadily downwards for the entirety of their conversation. He mentally compared the size of the building he'd glimpsed from outside with the duration of their journey and guessed that they must be several floors underground.

The doors slid open, revealing a stark white world. It looked to Ryou like the inside of a hospital, except that the people rushing back and forth in all directions weren't wearing white lab coats, but black jackets with the G.R.A.S.P. logo on it. Ryou spared a flippant thought for how nice it must be to work for an organization with such a catchy acronym.

"This way," said DD, beckoning him down the hallway. "I've radioed ahead, so your accommodations should already be prepared for you."

"What accommodations?" Ryou asked.

"Just a room where you can sit quietly for a while," said DD. "Of course, once we're certain you'll actually be of some use to us, I can arrange for something more suitable. You and Edo are friends - he might enjoy having you move into the same apartment complex we live in."

"Sometimes we're friends," Ryou remarked. "Sometimes I think he wants to kill me just for existing."

DD laughed. "He'll get over it - especially once he has powers of his own and doesn't feel he needs to prove himself against you."

"Won't that be nice," Ryou murmured.

They reached a door. It was no different from any of the others around it, painted a dull green and having a small numbered plate below its window. DD stopped in front of it anyway, unlocked it, and peered inside. Whatever he saw apparently satisfied him, because he nodded and turned back to Ryou.

"This is yours," he said. "Please, step inside."

The inside of the room matched the outside. It was white, small, and simple, containing only a single bed and a flimsy table next to it. The only adornment on the walls was a flat clock sunk into the concrete of the wall, apparently unmoveable. The pillows on the bed were flat and limp, the sheets tucked stiffly into place. The table was painted white, too, and lurched slightly to one side as if it hadn't been assembled properly. No one could use it as a weapon. The bed had a metal frame, and was bolted to the floor. No help there either. In fact, the only thing in the room that looked remotely threatening was a single syringe, filled with golden liquid, which rested inside a plastic bag on the table.

"What is this?" Ryou asked.

"That," DD explained, "is a dilute form of the serum I used to bolster my own powers - or rather, the latest iteration of the original formula I used. It is far more reliable than the original mixture, and has fewer side effects."

"And you want me to use it," Ryou guessed.

"Of course," said DD. "The fact is, I've only ever studied the effects of the mixture on people whose S-levels were below the one hundred point threshold your school is so fond of. You, on the other hand, are a record-setter, in the same league as the all-time greats. We really have no idea what will happen when you take it. Maybe nothing will happen. Maybe it will kill you. Maybe it will give you power beyond anything in recorded history. So this is my proposal: you will go into that room, and you will inject the serum of your own free will. You will allow us to observe you and study its effects. After that, you will have the choice of either joining my organization or being administered the antiserum. I'll warn you that the antiserum's side effects are uniformly unpleasant and tend to do long-term damage."

 _Like Fubuki,_ Ryou thought. _That would be just what I deserve, for letting it happen to him..._

"I understand," said Ryou.

DD nodded. "I'll give you an hour. You will be guarded and monitored the entire time, so don't get any clever ideas about breaking out. If I come back in an hour and find you still haven't taken my offer, then I will remove you to a more secure location and administer the drug forcibly, and you won't get any more choices about what happens to you next."

"That seems... fair," said Ryou.

He stepped into the room. Behind him, the door closed with an almost noiseless thud, and then the click of a lock being turned. Ryou stood for a moment in perfect stillness, considering the room and everything in it. Then, slowly, he walked over to the bed. He sat down carefully, hardly even creasing the perfectly tucked-in sheets.

He picked up the syringe.

 _It was foolish of them to give me something like this._

Automatically, he ran the scene through his mind: he would wait by the door for someone to open it. As soon as they were in reach, he would ram the needle into their throat, or any other body part he could reach. In the best case scenario, the drug would leave whoever they sent for him too incapacitated to stop him, and he could fight his way to freedom before anyone else knew he'd escaped. Even in the worst-case scenario, the move would still startle his captors and give him a second or two to attempt further tactics. Leaving him with anything he could use as a weapon was an unbelievable tactical blunder.

Then again, he was a hero. Maybe they thought he wasn't going to sink to such underhanded tactics. They probably expected him to just sit quietly and nobly on this bed, waiting for them to come for him. They surely didn't expect him to actually use the stuff voluntarily...

He turned the syringe over in his hands, thinking. He had no guarantee that what DD had said was true, with regards to what the syringe contained. It could be simply a sedative, something to make him sleepy and cooperative. It could be deadly poison, for all he knew, but he doubted that. He was too powerful and too apparently willing to consider offers to take out without at least giving him the chance to come over to their side. Besides, Ryou's gut was telling him that what he was dealing with was a man of the "experimenter" type. Whatever was in this syringe, DD probably wanted to know what it would do.

 _And if it's the same stuff he injects himself with, it probably isn't deadly._

Of course, this was apparently not the _exact_ preparation, and it had never been tested on someone like Ryuu, whose powers were already so close to the theoretical limit that it might be impossible to increase them.

But that was just it: the limits were only _theoretical_. People had decided that the maximum possible S-level was one thousand, because no one had ever actually _reached_ that level. That could very well be the same sort of logic one might have once used to say it was theoretically impossible to go to the moon because no one had ever done it before. It might well be that with nature augmented by science, humans could reach whole new thresholds of abilities.

 _There is no one in this building short of DD himself who has powers anything like comparable to mine. If this works, I could take this establishment apart with my bare hands, haul DD in front of the authorities, and shut this operation down for good. I could redeem myself. I could even find records of what they did to Fubuki, something we can use to save him..._

Yes, and when it was all over, he would still be a hero, the greatest hero there ever was, greater than he'd ever dreamed of being. He remembered Saiou telling him, what felt like years ago instead of only hours, that he was about to be offered something that would cost him a great deal if he accepted. Yes, and that he would gain the only thing that would satisfy this gnawing need inside him...

He rolled up his sleeve.

"Here goes nothing," he told himself, and pressed the needle to his skin.

* * *

The little boat cut smoothly through the waves. The island had long ago fallen away behind them, and there was nothing visible ahead of them but water and more water. Juudai paced restlessly up and down the side of the boat, knowing what he needed to do and unwilling to do it. At the moment, he was the only person topside. Everyone else had gone below to their various rooms to wait out the trip, plan out strategies, reassure each other, or simply nap the time away until they reached land. Juudai wished he could nap.

"So, you were going to tell me something?"

Juudai jumped. "Don't sneak up on people like that!"

"I wasn't sneaking," said Edo, taking a few steps closer to him. "You weren't paying attention. If I were an enemy, you'd be dead."

"You're not an enemy," Juudai pointed out, "and we're in the middle of the ocean. Who's going to attack us? Mermaids?"

"Weirder things have happened," said Edo. "So. Spill. What were you and Saiou talking about? I didn't know the two of you were chums."

"I never met him before," Juudai confessed. "It's just, yanno, he's kind of famous, and he's got this way of knowing things. That's what I hear, anyway."

Edo almost smiled. "He's pretty sharp, all right. So what does he know that I don't?"

"Probably a lot of things," said Juudai. He took a deep breath and let it out. "Look, I don't know if I can explain it as well as you want it explained. I'm in over my head, and I'm just trying to make the best of what I've got."

"All right, that's reasonable," said Edo. "So tell me what you can."

Juudai frowned a little, picking his words with care. "Okay. The gist of it is, I figured out what my power is. Saiou knows it too, I guess, and he wants me to use it to help him."

"I thought you didn't have a power," said Edo accusingly. "I thought you were in school under Clause 214. That means you don't have enough power to worry about."

"That's what everyone thought at first," said Juudai. "It turns out it's a little more complicated than that."

Edo raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"Well..."

This was it, Juudai thought. Time to stop dancing around the matter and see if he could really do this - not just because he had to, but deliberately, on purpose, knowing full well what he was about to attempt.

"Okay, okay," he said at last. "How about this? I'm going to ask you a question, and it's going to be a serious question, so don't punch me in the face because I asked it, all right? I mean it. I'm asking you this for an important reason, not just to tick you off."

"Understood," said Edo guardedly.

"All right," said Juudai. He took a deep breath. "Supposing there was a way to give you powers - not just what you've got now, but major powers, like what Ryou or Fubuki or Manjoume have?"

Edo's face flushed. "You have a lot of nerve, asking me that."

"I know, I know," said Juudai, "but I mean it seriously. Do you _really_ want them? Not just to avenge your dad, or to be like everyone else in school, but for yourself, because that's the kind of person you want to be? Would you want to have to deal with them for the rest of your life, even after you're done with your mission and you're done with school and you're out on your own?"

Edo stared at him for a moment, and Juudai could not read his expression. After a few seconds, Edo turned away again, running a hand through his hair.

"No one has ever put it to me quite like that before," he admitted. "I want to avenge my father, yes. School... I don't know. Sometimes I think I like being different - the one without powers who can hold his own against the best. Then sometimes I think I'd give anything to have people _stop_ treating me as different. And after school..." He was quiet a long time, staring out at the ocean. "After school, I want to be a hero. Whether I have powers or not, whether I find who killed my father or not, I want to be a hero, and maybe keep a few people from having to go through what I did. And if someone offered me the power to do that better than I can now, I'd take every scrap of it I could get."

"Good," said Juudai. "Then give me your hands."

"What?" The word came out as a yelp. "Why? What are you talking about?"

"Just trust me," said Juudai.

He held out his hands. Edo, looking baffled, slowly reached out to clasp them. Juudai closed his eyes and let himself go.

The darkness he fell into was a soft, comforting one, a darkness that came from not needing to see because he already knew instinctively where everything ought to be. In that darkness, he sensed Edo's self as a blaze of silver against the black. Juudai inspected the light from all angles, until he thought he had the shape of it. What he'd initially taken for a solid form was in actuality a sort of delicate filigree, outlining the shape that was Edo. Juudai could see where an empty place could be filled in, where a boundary could be removed. He worked ruthlessly, removing every limitation he could reach, withdrawing only when what he was creating began to feel unstable, and he knew that if he pushed it any further it would start breaking like Saiou and Fujiwara had. He gently nudged a few boundaries back in place, here and there, until he was certain this new power grid would remain sound and safe. Only then did he pull himself back into the real world. He opened his eyes and let go of Edo's hands.

Edo staggered backwards so forcefully he nearly fell over the railing. His eyes were very wide, showing the whites all around, and he was breathing as if he'd just run to the top of the volcano and back.

"What the _hell?_ " he gasped.

"Are you okay?" Juudai asked, worried that he'd overdone it.

"I feel like I just chugged about a dozen energy drinks," said Edo, pressing a hand to his chest, but he was beginning to sound steadier already. "What in blazes did you just _do_ to me?"

"It's kinda hard to explain," said Juudai sheepishly.

"You said that already. Stop hedging and talk."

"Well, the thing is," said Juudai, "you had the potential to have more power than you were using. I just kind of moved everything that was stopping you from getting at it. It's like you were living in one tiny room of a big house and I just went in and unlocked all the doors."

Edo's eyes narrowed. "Are you telling me that you just gave me superpowers?"

"You already _had_ superpowers," said Juudai. "I gave you _more_ power. As much as I could without blowing you up or something. I thought you might need it."

"So what can I do?" Edo asked.

"I don't know," Juudai admitted. "A lot, I think. Try and see."

Slowly, Edo raised one hand, aiming it out towards the ocean. Silvery light gathered in his palm, and when he lobbed it out to sea, a geyser of water exploded upwards. Encouraged, Edo tried dashing from one end of the ship to the other, moving in a blur that was too fast for the eye to follow. He completed his circuit of the ship and skidded to a halt in front of Juudai, catching hold of a railing to steady himself. Then, very deliberately, he pushed down on the railing, and the metal bar bent under his hands as if it were made of clay. Eyes bright, cheeks flushed with excitement, he tried jumping into the air, and hovered there a few inches above the deck.

"Oh, hell, yeah!" he exulted. "This is fantastic! How did you _do_ that?"

Juudai shrugged. "How are you flying?"

Edo stared at him for a moment, then laughed. "All right, I asked for that." He dropped back onto the deck again. "I have to thank you. You have no idea what this means to me. Seriously, I just can't believe it."

Juudai mustered up a smile. "Use it well."

"I will," said Edo. "I can promise you that... and I'll start by using them on the bastards who took DD."

"That's the spirit," said Juudai. "Just do me a favor, okay? Don't go blabbing this around. I don't want everyone in the world lining up begging me to give them superpowers."

Edo nodded. "Yeah. I can understand that. Okay, it's a deal. If keeping your secret is the cost I pay for all this, I figure I'm getting off easy."

"Have fun with it," Juudai said.

He left Edo on the deck, experimenting with his new abilities and apparently having the time of his life. Somehow, Juudai couldn't bring himself to be quite so elated. He had to wonder if he'd really done the right thing. Sure, Edo seemed happy now, but if someone had asked Juudai a week ago if having powers would make him happy...

He was still mulling this over when he descended below deck and started toward his room, such as he had. Edo's boat had been mainly intended for his own use, so there were only three bedrooms on it. Everyone on this little jaunt was sharing their room with at least one other person, and most of them had been forced to take up residence in rooms such as the parlor or the office. Juudai had taken up residence in the game room with Shou and Johan, but he'd left almost immediately to go talk to Edo. Now he could hear their muffled voices through the door, earnestly discussing strategy. Juudai considered going in and joining them and couldn't work up the energy. All he'd done today, first on Fujiwara, then on Fubuki, and finally on Edo, had left him drained. He wished he knew a quiet place he could curl up for a nap.

Soft footsteps came up behind him.

"I thought you handled that very well," said a low voice.

Juudai turned and gave the newcomer a weak grin. "Hi there."

Saiou smiled back. "Your aura is faded. I expect that you're tired."

"Little bit," Juudai agreed.

"Allow me to pour you a cup of tea," said Saiou. "I always find that tea and cake have a revivifying effect when I've pushed my powers too far."

Juudai was forced to admit that cake sounded very good right now. He also found that he had no doubt whatsoever in Saiou's ability to procure it. He nodded.

"That sounds great, thanks."

Wordlessly, Saiou turned and beckoned him towards one of the rooms further down the hall. Juudai followed him. He was surprised to find that the door opened onto an elegantly furnished, rather old-fashioned little bedroom, with a curtained bed and a deep purple carpet. A cabinet built into the wall did indeed show the makings of a cup of tea behind its glass doors, and what little floor space wasn't occupied by the bed contained a small sofa and coffee table. Juudai blinked.

"Not what I was expecting," Juudai admitted.

Saiou smiled. "Edo has been my friend for a long time. He was kind enough to furnish this room for my use. It has much the same mental soundproofing as my room at the academy, so I can be reasonably comfortable here."

Juudai nodded. That explained why no one else had claimed it for their own, despite its comforts. Gingerly, he picked his way across the carpet and settled himself on the sofa. Saiou closed the door behind himself and drifted over to the cabinet to start making tea.

"You'll have to forgive me," he said. "I wasn't prepared for guests. I seem to be out of darjeeling."

"Whatever you've got is fine," Juudai assured him. The sofa was very comfortable. If Saiou didn't hurry up with the tea soon, Juudai was going to doze off. In an effort to keep himself awake, he began looking around the room, taking in its small details. He noticed a pack of cards lying on the table and reached to pick them up. Juudai had always been good at card games, but these were unlike any cards he'd ever seen before. They were long and narrow, and there seemed to be a lot more of them than a standard deck. Some of them were numbered, but with things like swords and coins rather than the suits he was used to. Others had intricate pictures on them and were labeled things like "The Moon" or "The Emperor".

"Are you interested in Tarot?" asked Saiou. He had returned, carrying a tray with a pot of tea and two cups, along with a plate of lemon cake.

"That's like fortune telling, right?" Juudai asked.

Saiou nodded as he sat down in a little chair across from Juudai. He began gracefully pouring out cups of tea.

"You can learn a lot from these cards, if you have the knack," he said. "Perhaps you'd like me to give you a reading?"

"I don't know if I want to know my future," Juudai admitted. "Just what I know now is more than enough."

Saiou smiled. "They don't always predict the future. Sometimes they help you understand your present."

"That sounds like just what I need," said Juudai.

"Then allow me to see what I can divine," Saiou replied. "Would you be so kind as to shuffle the cards?"

So while Saiou passed around slices of cake and stirred honey into his tea, Juudai picked up the deck and began shuffling it, his fingers awkward on the oddly-sized cards. They tingled under his touch in a way that he found almost soothing. After being told that he had so much power over so great at thing, the sense that there was some other sort of power invested in these cards made him feel ever so slightly less overwhelmed. This, at least, was not his responsibility.

"Done," he said, setting them in the middle of the table. He reached for a piece of cake. It was, he decided after his first bite, surprisingly good cake. They didn't get cake like that at the Red dorm, that was for sure.

Saiou picked up the cards and began laying them out in a pattern. Juudai sipped his tea and watched Saiou arrange them. One by one, the psychic turned them over and studied the results. Juudai could make nothing of the images in front of him, though he could see a variety of people doing peculiar things, a tower being struck by lightning and falling, and an assortment of swords and wands.

"Can you really make heads or tails of all this?" he asked.

"It is a bit complex," said Saiou. "A lot of it appears to be associated with our current endeavor, rather than your personal destiny." He tapped the collapsing tower with one pointed fingernail. "This seems to indicate that what we're getting into is a lot bigger than a simple rescue attempt... even assuming that such a thing can ever be simple. No matter how it turns out, nothing will be the same when we get home as it was when we left."

Juudai swallowed hard. "Are you sure?"

Saiou's smile was always kind. "Nothing stays the same forever, and even the good Professor Chronos can't rewind time but so much. You'll be better off simply accepting that everything will change and simply working to ensure that the change is for the better."

Juudai looked down at his teacup. "I used to think being a hero would be fun, you know? The good guys would be good and the bad guys would be bad, and I'd always know the right way to deal with them. But some of the heroes I've met have been pretty mean, and then I go and meet someone like Fujiwara who's doing scary things to people just because he's confused and scared and didn't know what else to do. Now I've got all this power and I have to decide what I ought to do with it, and I just don't know."

Saiou toyed with his teacup.

"When I was younger," he said, "and I first began coming into my powers, I thought at first that I was going to make myself a celebrity. I could have done it easily enough. I was only a small boy at the time, but I still had that power to bend others to my will. I did try, for a while. It was not a great success."

"What happened?" Juudai asked.

Saiou shrugged. "I made mistakes. I was only a boy at the time, and I knew very little of what was best for myself, much less for anyone else. The more I tried to make the world into what I thought it should be, the worse matters became. I learned, too, that openly flaunting my power only made people fear and distrust me. So this is the only advice I have for you, Yuuki Juudai. Start small. You don't need to solve world hunger or bring about global revolution. Fetch cats out of trees. Return lost umbrellas. Make funny faces at children with scraped knees until they stop crying. Do what good you can in the space you occupy, at least until you learn the limits of your own strength and judgment. Your gifts may be very great, but you are not the only hero in the world. You don't have to do everything."

"But if I have this power, and I don't use it, and something bad happens that I could have fixed..." Juudai protested.

"I have no doubt," said Saiou, "that trouble will find you when you're ready for it... even as it is doing now."

Juudai made a face. "That's the truth."

"Then don't worry. You'll know what you need to do when you see it," said Saiou. He stirred the cards on the table with a forefinger. "But if you're looking for suggestions..."

Juudai leaned forward. "What do you see?"

"The cards suggest that there is something you've forgotten," said Saiou.

Juudai felt a surge of panic. "I thought I'd thought of everything..."

"Not about this mission," said Saiou. "This is from something much longer ago. A promise, made and then forgotten. If you are to succeed here today, you must remember what it is and resolve it."

"I don't remember making any promises," said Juudai.

Saiou smiled a little. "That would be the problem, I'm afraid."

Their chat was interrupted by a rainbow shimmer in the air. Johan had just stepped through the wall in spirit form.

"Hi, guys," he said. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything. Hey, Mr. Saiou, can you see me?"

"Actually, yes," said Saiou. "What an interesting effect."

"We can experiment later, if you want," said Johan. "Right now, Captain Phoenix says we're going to make landfall any minute, so he wants us all on deck to start figuring out where we're headed next."

"Can do," said Juudai. He stood up. "Thanks for the tea, and the advice."

"It was little enough," Saiou replied, "compared to what you've offered to do for me."

"I missed that part of the conversation," said Johan. He was already drifting towards the wall again. "Anyway, see you up top!"

He vanished from sight, as much as he'd ever been in sight in the first place. Juudai started for the door.

"Guess it's time," he said.

 _I'm leading a mission,_ he thought. He thought back to his childhood dreams of storming the enemy stronghold with his team. Everyone in his daydreams had always been having a wonderful time. _Somehow, this isn't quite what I'd expected._


	16. Powerless

The world was coming to an end.

Ryou lay on his bed, gasping and sweating, curled into a miserable ball of agony as he waited to die. From the moment he'd pressed the plunger home and felt the horrible stuff in the syringe burn its way into his veins, he knew he'd made a mistake. It had torn through him the way a flash flood tore through an unsuspecting village. He could feel it ripping him apart, setting his stomach churning and making his heart race in a frantic, futile effort to escape the drug. He had toppled back on the thin, comfortless pillow and cursed himself, cursed Saiou for misleading him, cursed Edo for ever suggesting going to him, cursed DD for leading him to this miserable demise. Then the drug had taken hold of him entirely, and he could do nothing but moan and sob as he felt himself being unmade from the inside out.

But he didn't die. So gradually that at first he thought it was only a trick of his brain, some effort to protect itself from his unendurable torment, the pain began to lessen. His nausea subsided, and his heart rate began to settle into something steadier. Ryou wondered if this was what death felt like. Maybe his organs had finally given out altogether, and the darkness would close in on him any second now. Instead, his discomfort continued to ease, until he finally, cautiously, sat up. His head swam, but at least his stomach stayed in place. He felt weak and shivery all over, like a man coming down with the flu, but he no longer felt in danger of immediate expiration. He checked the clock. He felt like he'd been shaking and retching for hours, but no more than twenty minutes had passed since he'd first injected the drug.

 _You won't catch me doing that again,_ he thought distractedly.

He tried standing up. His knees wouldn't take him at first, but after a couple of tries, he managed to get himself on his feet. Walking around made him feel a little better, so he paced circles as best he could while he tried to think what he should do now.

First question: what effect had that juice had on his powers? He considered his options for a moment, then picked up the pillow. With a deliberate motion, he tossed it into the air and raised a hand to blast it to smithereens.

Instead, a fresh wave of dizziness and nausea washed over him. Ryou staggered backwards against the bed, gasping. The sensation passed quickly, but not quickly or thoroughly enough for his liking.

 _Maybe this is temporary,_ he thought, but not with much real hope. He considered attempting something less strenuous, like levitating, and shelved the idea. One such experiment was enough. Perhaps something passive, like strength... He reached for the frame of the bed and attempted to bend it. It should have warped under his hands like modeling clay. Instead, it remained obstinately in the same shape. The mere effort left him sweating. He gave vent to a whole new string of curses.

 _All right. Calm down. Think. You still have maybe half an hour before anyone comes to check on you, and you can't use it to just sit here feeling sorry for yourself._

And yet, why not? Clearly his powers were no longer usable in this state. Maybe this was only a temporary reaction, maybe it was something the doctors back at Academy Island could fix, but he couldn't count on his powers coming back to him in the next thirty minutes. Maybe they would never come back at all. If that was the case... well, what was the point? He could never stand up to DD and his goons when he was weaker than even the average mundane human. He barely had the strength to stand up, much less fight. Even if he could somehow manage an escape, so what? He didn't know how to _be_ anything but a hero. He couldn't face the prospect of living his life as a clerk or an assistant manager somewhere. Maybe the best thing to do would be to just lie back down and wait for someone to come and put him out of his misery.

A voice in his mind that sounded very like Edo's said, _Yeah, sure. Just lie down and die. That would be really heroic, wouldn't it? But I guess I can't expect someone without any powers to be heroic, can I? Oh, wait..._

 _Your sarcasm is not appreciated,_ Ryuu told the voice, but he knew it was right. Edo had no real powers to speak of, yet he was one of the strongest heroes Ryou knew. He could hold his own with anyone and do it by sheer force of determination. Ryou may not have access to his powers just now, but he'd had all the same training Edo had, and he was pretty sure he could muster up some determination.

 _I'm going to_ end _the people who did this to me._ Granted, one of those people was himself, but given the odds he was up against, he was probably still telling the truth.

Well, he'd worry about that later. First he needed to get out of this room. He looked around, considering his options. There were no windows. The walls and ceiling were solid concrete, and he suspected they were probably steel-reinforced as well - he'd have had a hard time punching his way out even with his powers fully in effect. The door was steel as well, with no window and no handle on this side. He was well and truly sealed in.

 _I suppose I'll just have to be creative, then._

A few minutes later, Ryou was lying on the bed again, hugging his pillow to his chest. Occasionally, he'd flinch and emit a low moan. He was still in that position when the door swung open. It made no sound, but the sudden shift in the otherwise motionless air brought Ryou's senses on high alert. He moaned again and pulled one arm up over his eyes, as if even the small sound of someone's footsteps on the floor made his head hurt.

"Heh," said a coarse voice. "Guess the joy juice didn't agree with you, huh?"

Ryou did not recognize the voice. Not DD, then. This voice was raspier, and came with a strong suggestion of breath mints. The scent of them reached Ryou even through his pillow. So reassuring to know that his captors practiced good oral hygiene, he thought irrelevantly. He mustered a pained whimper.

"Come on, fella," said the voice. "You ain't dead. Get on your feet, so we can get you down to..."

A hand touched Ryou's shoulder, as if to roll him over. Ryou rolled. He didn't move with anything like the speed he'd have had with his powers intact, but the move was still sudden and unexpected enough to take his visitor by surprise. In a flash, the pillow was over the man's mouth, and the tip of the empty syringe was at his neck. The man tried to shout a protest or perhaps a warning, but the pillow muffled the sound.

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you," Ryou murmured in his ear. "I've heard such interesting things about what this can do to people. Would you like to find out what it will do to you?"

The man made a muffled squeak.

"I thought not," said Ryou. "Now, I am going to stand up, and together we're going to walk over there, away from the door, and you're going to stand with your hands against the wall. Understood?"

The man made another noise and gave as much of a nod as he could with a pillow mashed against his face.

"Good," said Ryou. "Now, walk."

They walked. Ryou did his best not to let the man sense how much his legs were shaking, but perhaps his captive thought all the trembling was on account of his own fear. Either way, they made it to the wall. The man pressed his hands to the smooth concrete and half-turned his head, searching Ryou's face for signs of approval.

"That's just right," Ryou told him. "Now, I'm going to take this pillow away, but if you make a sound, this needle goes into your jugular. Are we clear?"

The man nodded again. Ryou pulled the pillow away. He saw his captive take a breath, preparing to shout for help.

Help never came. Immediately, Ryou dropped the empty syringe and instead grabbed the man's greasy hair. With a swift movement, he slammed the man's head against the wall as hard as he could. There was a satisfying crack. Ryou knocked him against the wall a second time anyway, just to be sure, and then let the limp body fall to the floor. He looked dispassionately down at his handiwork. A cut on the man's forehead oozed blood. Ryou wondered, in a detached sort of way, whether or not he'd managed to kill the man, and decided not to worry about it. Instead, he quickly divested his captive of the long black coat he'd been wearing. It was a rather handsome thing, really, a sturdy black duster with the G.R.A.S.P. logo embroidered in silver on one lapel. Ryou had admired the uniform earlier. Now was his chance to try it on.

He was gratified to find that his new jacket fit fairly well, particularly after he'd adjusted the straps and buckles and fastened the belt that went with it. Even more encouraging, the pockets came equipped with some useful odds and ends, including what he guessed were a key card and a small stun gun. He wished the man had been wearing a hat as well. It would have been nice to have something to obscure his face a little.

 _Can't have everything,_ he told himself. Still, he had a disguise, he had a key, and he was armed, and that was better than he'd been doing five minutes ago.

 _Maybe I have a fighting chance after all,_ he thought. All he had to do was find his way out of here, alone, without powers, and without getting caught and dissected as a science project, and then find some way to contact the Academy for help.

 _Piece of cake._

* * *

As villainous lairs went, Juudai had seen better. Granted, he'd mostly seen them in the movies, and he'd been expecting that real life would have fewer special effects, but he still couldn't help but feel that the side of villainy was letting him down. This looked suspiciously like every other office building he'd ever seen. The front windows were mostly covered over with a pair of identical posters, depicting a man and a woman gesturing excitedly at a computer that was at least ten years old. The slogan read, "Nishiyama Data Industries, bringing you the future today!" The posters were blue from the sun and curling at the corners.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" he asked.

Edo shot him a pointed look. "No, Juudai, I picked this place out of a hat and decided to check it out on the off-chance that it might be a secret villainous hideout. Of course I'm sure this is the right place," he added, when some of the assembled company gave him blank looks.

"I suppose as camouflage goes, it has its merits," said Misawa.

"Can't this guy just do his psychic woo-woo stuff and find out for sure?" asked Kenzan, jerking a thumb in Saiou's direction.

Saiou scowled at him. He had looked unhappy ever since he'd left the boat, like a man who has forgotten his umbrella and has resigned himself to walking home in the rain. Juudai imagined that he wasn't comfortable being away from the safe confines of his power dampeners.

"Not with DD," he said. "He has a high opinion of the abilities of psychics. You can perhaps guess why. He wears psychic power dampeners on his person at all time - as bracelets, in his belt buckle, even in the arms of his glasses."

Edo nodded. "He says he's always concerned about a really powerful telepath going to the bad, and he wants to be prepared. That's why we've always relied on physical trackers. It's easier to disable those if we have to, than to have to scramble to find psychic blockers in the middle of an important mission."

"That's okay," said Johan. "We have other ways of tracking people down, right, guys?"

"And I can still search for Mr. Marufuji," said Saiou.

"I can search the building as well," Fujiwara offered. "No one will pay any attention to me."

"Right," said Edo. "All right. You all make a preliminary sweep of the building. Figure out the layout and where everyone is, and then report back. Don't try anything fancy. No rescue attempts on your own unless it's absolutely a matter of life and death. Otherwise, you just search and report back, all right?"

Johan and Fujiwara nodded. Fujiwara glided towards the building, found a convenient shadow, and slipped into it. Johan made himself as comfortable as he could against the dumpster they were grouped behind and closed his eyes. A moment later, Juudai saw the glowing aura of his friend drift across the street and into the building. Saiou and Misawa began chatting quietly to each other. Misawa had already been supplied with communication gear, and everyone had been outfitted with a radio device to call back to him. It was all very organized, and Juudai had to struggle to keep from just dashing inside.

 _And here I was worried about being expected to do everything,_ he thought. _Now I'm stuck standing here not being able to do anything and wishing I could._

Even so, he knew what would happen if he went barging inside. He might be immune to other people's superpowers, but he was not immune to, say, an unexpected bullet in the back of the head. In a perverse way, it was almost comforting. If he wasn't all-powerful, he couldn't be expected to do _everything_.

"You know," said Edo slowly, "something about this is bugging me."

Juudai turned to look at him. "You mean, besides the fact that someone just kidnaped your dad and your best friend?"

"Yeah," said Edo. "I don't know, maybe Saiou's rubbing off on me. I just feel like this is out of place. DD doesn't get caught off-guard like this. He's professionally paranoid, you know? It's weird that he'd be caught by something so... so straightforward. This wasn't some kind of intricately laid trap, this was him getting jumped while he was strolling on an open beach with plenty of escape routes. I've seen him get out of much tighter places without a scratch on him, so why did things go wrong now?"

"There was that monster," Juudai offered. "It was pretty tough."

"That still doesn't explain everything," said Edo. "I mean, how did they even know he was coming? Were they spying on him? They must have had some advance warning, to have all those people and choppers and monsters and things all ready to go within minutes of his arriving here. And why plan an attack on the islands, for pity's sakes? Most of the invaders were just mundanes, no powers to speak of, so why launch a strike on an island that was guaranteed to be riddled with superheroes? It's too risky. If they could watch him closely enough to know he was making a spur-of-the-moment visit, surely they could have picked a more opportune time than when he was literally surrounded by potential allies. It was far too risky to go all that way on the hopes that he might wander off alone somewhere. It's almost like..."

He paused. Juudai waited, but there didn't seem to be any more words coming.

"Like what?" Juudai prompted.

Edo shook his head. "It's nothing. Just a stupid idea. Forget I said anything."

"But..." Juudai began.

"Look, I'm wrong, okay?" Edo snapped. "I don't know what I was thinking. Just leave it alone."

"Okay, okay, sheesh," said Juudai, backing away.

Not that he believed a word Edo was saying. He was pretty sure he knew what conclusion Edo had come to, and that it was the same one that had occurred to him as well. He wasn't surprised that Edo didn't want to consider the possibility. If only DD had known ahead of time that he was coming here, and the bad guys had somehow found out, that meant there was only one person who could have told them, and if that was true, well... he didn't like to think how far back that chain of events went.

He was saved from having to think that all the way through by the sound of Misawa's telecommunications box crackling to life.

"This is Fujiwara. Can you read me?" said a voice, tinny and overlaid with static.

"We read you," said Misawa. "What's your status?"

"The ground floor of this building is empty," he replied. "I've done a quick sweep of a few of the upper floors and there's no sign anyone has ever used them. Has Johan found anything in his part of the building?"

"Let me see if I can reach him telepathically," said Saiou. He paused a moment, eyes closed, then said, "He reports that he has seen no one suspicious on the ground floor, but that there seems to be some activity going on in the basement levels."

"Great," said Edo. "I like basements. They're hard for your enemies to escape. I want Fujiwara and Johan to keep exploring ahead of us and let us know if anything interesting turns up. The rest of us are moving into the ground floor and fanning out from there."

"Acknowledged," said Fujiwara. "Be careful. There's something about the feel of this place I don't like. I'm jumping down a couple of levels to see what I can find. Signing off."

"Roger that," Edo agreed. He cut off the connection. "All right, this is how we're going to do this. Since there are a lot of us, I think we should split into groups. I'll take one, and Juudai, you can take the other if you want."

"Not me," said Juudai, holding up his hands. "I don't want to be a leader. Make Jim or somebody the leader."

"Hey, why him?" Manjoume complained.

"Fine, fine," said Edo. "Manjoume can be a leader. Juudai, you go with him. Saiou, you're with me, and... let's see... Rei, Martin, Kenzan, you three work well together. You can be on my team. O'Brien, you can tag along for some extra firepower. Everyone else, you're with Manjoume. Any questions? No? Good. Misawa, you'll be keeping us all updated on each other's movements."

Misawa nodded. "I'll be monitoring you all, and I have several drones and mounted cameras around the building now. If anything happens out here, you'll know."

"Sounds good," said Edo. He raised his eyes toward the building with its unimposing facade and sun-bleached posters. He hitched his toolbelt securely in place. "All right, team. Let's move out."

* * *

Ryou was making progress. Granted, it was slow, painful, nerve-wracking progress, but he was willing at this point to take whatever he could get. At any rate, his new jacket seemed to be doing the trick. This did not seem to be the sort of place that went heavily into on-the-job camaraderie. As long as he kept his head down and shuffled along as if he were on his way to someplace he really didn't want to be (which was more or less true), no one bothered him. On the few occasions when someone spoke to him, he gave them a surly glare and grunted something, and they scampered away. He hoped that meant he looked intimidating and not that he looked like he was carrying something contagious and possibly fatal. He still felt as though someone had run his insides through a blender.

He came to a juncture between two hallways and paused, trying to get his bearings. He knew he needed to go upstairs. His preference would have been to find an elevator. It was mortifying to think of it, but at the moment, he didn't think he could bring himself to climb all the stairs he would need to in order to reach the ground floor. The thought of tackling even one flight of stairs made his chest ache.

 _Don't think about it. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other._

He gritted his teeth, chose a direction, and kept going. He tried not to think about how easy this would be if he just hadn't fried his powers. It would be so easy just to fly upstairs, to blast through the ceiling, to turn this whole building into rubble...

 _Yes,_ said a small voice inside him. _But easy things aren't very heroic, are they?_

He scowled at himself. What a foolish, naive way to look at this. Yes, it was very noble to say that accomplishing anything difficult was a heroic act, but it was hardly a practical outlook. Climbing a flight of stairs when he was almost too weak to move was certainly an impressive feat, but what good did it do anyone? To be a real hero, you had to do something to help other people, and what could he do in the state he was in? He was the one who needed rescuing now, and he hated it.

He was so wrapped up in these thoughts that it took him a few minutes to realize that he had chosen the wrong direction. The hallway he'd wandered down was a dead-end passage, lined with doors that made the entrance to his own temporary enclosure look flimsy by comparison. Whatever had been kept in these rooms, it had obviously never been meant to get out.

And yet, it obviously had. Most of the doors stood ajar, showing darkness beyond. The light from the hall was enough to give Ryou a dim view of what was inside: squalid little bedrooms, hardly large enough to move around in. Some of them showed signs of having been occupied: scratches on the walls, broken furniture, a pillow torn to shreds. Looking at them made Ryou feel sick all over again, as he guessed what must have happened to the people who had been shut in there. A glimpse of something blue inside one of these rooms made Ryou pause a moment for a closer look. What was it? An abandoned bit of clothing, a lost sock or crumpled shirt? No, there was a plastic eye attached to it, and a floppy cloth ear...

Ryou turned away, swallowing hard as his already unsettled stomach heaved. A child. There had been a _child_ in there, and now they were gone, and he could guess only too well what had happened to them. Giving _him_ the drug had been one thing. He was an adult, and he'd made his own choice about what he was willing to risk, but a child...?

Suddenly, it wasn't enough for him to simply escape. DD had to be punished for this, and Ryou knew he could never rest unless he was the one who did it.

 _I need to find him._

Well, obviously, DD wasn't down here. Ryou turned himself around, bracing himself against the wall for balance, and began making his way back to where he had come. He had to pause for a moment, leaning against one of the doors, while he caught his breath.

The door shook.

Ryou jumped back, propelled by a surge of adrenaline. The sudden movement made his head spin, and he had no choice but to lean against the far wall as he watched the door shudder in a volley of violent impacts. Smoke seeped between the cracks between the door and the wall.

"What in the..." he managed.

"Let me out!" a voice bellowed. "I know you're there! Let me out right now!"

 _It's that monster,_ Ryou realized. So this was where they had locked the poor thing up. Now that he'd had a taste of what they had put it through, he felt sorry for it. Perhaps it had been a child too, before DD and his cronies had turned it into what it was now. He wished he _could_ free it. On the other hand, he was wearing the uniform of the people who had tortured it, and he didn't want to bet on his ability to make it cooperate with him.

 _I'll make sure someone knows,_ he promised himself. _I'll send someone to rescue it - him - once I'm out._

That was assuming he was going to get out. On and on he trudged, taking long minutes to make it down a single short hallway. The passages splayed out in all directions, and Ryou had to fight to keep his sense of direction with his head spinning and his pulse pounding in his ears. All he could be sure of was that he was moving at a right angle to the hall with the empty bedrooms and the angry monster. He could only hope that if he managed to find the far wall or a corner of the building, that it might have an elevator nearby.

When the visual disturbances started, Ryou began to think that something was going wrong with his eyes. Then he realized that the shadows around him actually _were_ warping out of shape. He watched them twist and writhe without making any move to escape. It was interesting, and anyway, where was he going to run? Whatever was about to happen, he felt he had no choice but to face it head-on.

As it happened, he need not have worried. The shadows gave one final twist, and a young man dressed all in grays and blacks stepped into view. Ryou stared at him, blinking. There was something about this man, something that was so familiar and yet elusive...

"Ryou?" the man asked, and his voice was familiar too. "Ryou! I thought I recognized your shadow. Do you remember me? It's Fujiwara. We used to have classes together."

"Fujiwara..." Ryou repeated. Distant bells began ringing in his ind. "Fujiwara Yusuke? Is that right?"

Fujiwara's face lit up. "You do remember! It's so good to see you again, Ryou."

Ryou didn't reply right away. He was trying to filter through all the memories that were slowly resurfacing in his mind. They _had_ gone to school together, years ago. Fubuki had introduced the two of them, and Ryou hadn't believed the two of them would have anything to talk about, but somehow they had clicked. Ryou remembered Fujiwara as a shy, self-effacing boy with a keen intellect and surprisingly acute observational skills. They'd enjoyed a lot of good conversations, back in the day. He wasn't sure, now, just why they had stopped being friends, or where Fujiwara had gone. He had a feeling that knowledge would be important, if he could dredge it up.

"How did you get here?" he managed at last.

"That's a long story," Fujiwara replied. "The short version is that I came here with Edo Phoenix and a lot of others to rescue you and DD."

Ryou snorted. "Wasted effort."

Fujiwara smiled faintly. "Much as I hate to wound your pride, you look like you could use some help to me."

"Not really my fault this time," said Ryou. "Who do you think did this to me? It sure as hell wasn't the Tooth Fairy."

"Oh, is she still in business? I thought she retired after Bug Zapper burned her wings," Fujiwara murmured. "Sorry, sorry. I've been out of context a long time. What happened?"

"I'll tell you what happened," said Ryou. "It was all a setup, that's what happened. DD's behind it all. He kidnaped himself on purpose. He's behind it all."

"Why would he do that?" Fujiwara asked. "Not that I'm doubting you, but..."

"I'm not sure," Ryou admitted. "To capture a subject, I suppose. He was eager enough to experiment on me, anyway."

"Maybe," said Fujiwara, "but how did he know you were going to come out and talk to him?"

"Maybe he didn't," Ryou suggested. "He might have just wanted anyone he could get. He's definitely in charge here, though. We have to take him down."

Fujiwara nodded. "I'll get you out of here, and then..."

"No," said Ryou firmly. He gripped Fujiwara's arm. "I'm staying. I want a piece of this guy. Just help me get to an elevator, and then go tell Edo what's happening."

"Ryou, what are you..." Fujiwara began.

He was cut off by the sound of feet. A cluster of men in dark G.R.A.S.P. jackets came hurrying up one of the passageways.

"There, you see?" one said. "I told you there was someone snooping around in here!"

"Hold on to him!" someone shouted. "Don't let him get away!"

 _They think I captured him,_ Ryou thought. His mind churned sluggishly. If he tried to hold on to Fujiwara, it might allow him to avoid notice and eventually escape, but it would be at the cost of betraying an old friend he'd thought was lost forever. If he let Fujiwara escape - and he clearly _would_ escape, with that shadow-jumping trick - then it wouldn't be long before he was discovered and hauled away. It was one of them or the other. The thought, _It should be him - he's got a better chance of getting away,_ warred with, _It should be me - I'm half dead anyway._

Fujiwara seemed to be making the same sort of calculations.

"Ryou," he whispered, "I don't think I can carry you, and I can't escape at all if too many people are holding on to me. I have to be able to move."

"Fine," said Ryou, making up his mind. "Stall them."

"Ryou, what are you...?" Fujiwara hissed, and then the mob was on him.

Ryou had to admit, Fujiwara did a good job of stalling. He may not have been able to shadow-jump if more people than he could move were holding on to him, but he could definitely put on a good show. Shadows warped and flowed around him like menacing tentacles, and the grunts didn't seem to know how to react to this. Even the overhead lights reacted to his power, flickering and sparking. Ryou took advantage of their distraction to slip to the back of the crowd. He hoped the goons would be frightened enough that they would decide to back down long enough for Fujiwara to escape. If that didn't happen, though...

 _I hope I remember the way. I hope this isn't as stupid as it seems._

He ran. He did it without grace, just stumbling headlong, letting his own momentum do as much of the work as possible, occasionally caroming off walls in his haste. By the time he reached his goal, he was panting and dripping with sweat. He leaned against the wall next to the door he'd come to, trying to get back enough air to speak. He knew it was the right door - it was slightly bowed from being attacked - but whatever was behind it was quiet now. He pressed his ear to the crack and listened, wondering if the being inside had managed to batter its way through a wall instead. Something was sobbing on the other side.

"Hey, you," said Ryou. "Can you hear me?"

There was no response, but the sobbing broke off with a squeak and a sniffle. Ryou took that as a yes.

"You want out of here?" he asked. "Really out - no guards or shackles?"

"Who are you?" a voice asked.

"I'm not one of them. That's all that matters," said Ryou. "I've stolen a uniform and a key card, but sooner or later they'll realize I'm a fake. I need help. My friend is being attacked right now, and I can't fight all these creeps on my own, so I'm offering you a deal. If I let you out, will you stop them from taking my friend?"

"This is a trick," said the voice.

"I don't see you getting any better offers," Ryou retorted. "Look, there's no time to argue. Do you want me to open the door or not?"

There was a pause long enough for Ryou to turn around and take a few steps back down the hall. Then the voice inside said, "Let me out, please."

Ryou smiled. He turned back to the door and fished the key card out of his pocket. As he'd hoped, it went into the slot beside the door and triggered an encouraging chirp. A light on the card reader went from red to green, and the door slid open.

The inside of the room was even more of a wreck than the other rooms Ryou had seen. The walls here were etched with claw marks, the paint stripped away in long jagged streaks. The bed frame had been reduced to a heap of twisted metal, and portions of the mattress were still smouldering. In the middle of the wreckage stood Yubel himself, expression one of mingled hope and fear and fury. He took one look at Ryou and stepped backwards.

"I knew it was a trick. You're one of them."

"No," said Ryou. "I told you, I stole this uniform. I'm the one you fought on the beach, remember? We're both captives here."

Yubel took a step closer, scrutinizing him. Ryou had the impression that Yubel hadn't really paid much attention to him before, even when they'd been having their one-sided fight. Whatever was driving Yubel, Ryou had not been a part of it.

"You are him," he agreed at last.

"Good. Glad we got that sorted," said Ryou. "Now, will you do me a favor? My friend was fighting a lot of these G.R.A.S.P. goons just up this hall and to the left. If he's still there, will you help him? He's wearing a gray and black uniform - not like these jackets everyone else is wearing. If he isn't there, some of my other friends are in the building too. Find them and tell them Marufuji Ryou sent you, and they'll try to help you to safety, all right?"

Yubel nodded once. Then he flapped his wings and was gone, up the hall and out of sight around the corner. Ryou leaned back against the wall, letting exhaustion finally overtake him.

 _Well, that's put the cat among the pigeons,_ he thought wryly. _I just hope I did the right thing._


	17. Promises, Promises

The building continued not to live up to Juudai's expectations. He supposed it was forgivable for a villain's secret lair to look innocuous on the outside, but inside? There ought to be traps, armed guards, possibly some ominous machinery blinking red lights at him. This office building looked dismayingly like an office building.

"Are we sure we're in the right place?" Juudai asked.

"This is the right place," Jim assured him. He was leading the team down one of the staircases into the deeper levels, somewhat to Manjoume's chagrin, but Jim with his magical eye in play was the best trap-sweeper they had available. He was walking ahead of the group now, staring at everything intently and clearly not happy with what he was seeing.

"But there's nothing here," Juudai complained.

"Oh, there are things here," said Jim. "Cameras, for one. I don't see any outcome where we aren't spotted by someone eventually. I'm just wondering why someone hasn't come for us sooner. We obviously don't belong here, so if anyone is watching these cameras..."

"Well, they must not be," Manjoume muttered, "because nobody's coming. This place is dead."

He threw a handful of sparks at one of the cameras, and it whined and began streaming smoke as it died.

"Maybe you shouldn't have done that," said Shou uneasily.

"Why not?" Manjoume replied. "We don't want them watching us, do we?"

"But they'll notice we're here if they see their camera is dead!"

"Oh, yeah? And they wouldn't notice if they saw us on camera?"

Juudai listened to Shou and Manjoume bicker with only half an ear. He was still thinking about what Saiou had said to him. A broken promise... what promise had he broken? He couldn't remember making any promises. He'd been too busy with everything else going on around him to worry about making people promises. He certainly didn't remember breaking one. He thought if he had promised someone something important, he would remember it. Maybe that was just the sort of dire pronouncement fortune tellers made when they were showing off, but Juudai didn't believe that either. Saiou wasn't the sort who flaunted his power. If he had said something, it must have been for a good reason. So what...?

His ruminations were interrupted by a sudden sense of power surging around him. He stopped in place and held out his arms, blocking the way of those behind him. The cries of protest caused Manjoume and Jim to look back - the former in annoyance, the latter appearing merely curious.

"What are you...?" Manjoume began. Then he emitted a squawk as Jim shoved him. Manjoume yelped and stumbled forward, and Juudai and Shou jumped forward and managed to catch him before he could crack his jaw on the stairs. A moment later, a figure stumbled out of the shadows and into the space Manjoume had previously occupied.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" Manjoume snapped, his words somewhat muffled by the fact that he currently had his face pressed against Shou's shirt.

"Sorry," said the newcomer. His voice was breathless.

"Fujiwara, you okay?" Juudai asked.

He didn't quite look okay. His clothing was in disarray, his hair ruffled, his face flushed from some excitement or exertion. Fujiwara held up a hand, indicating that he wanted to catch his breath before he answered.

"Where's Edo?" he asked at last. "Is he with you?"

Jim shook his head. "He went with the other party."

"Somebody needs to tell him," said Fujiwara. He shook himself. "I'm telling this all wrong. I'm sorry, it's been so long, and I'm not used to talking to people anymore..."

Asuka stepped forward to put her hands on his shoulders. Her touch seemed to settle him. Fujiwara took a few deep breaths and shook himself.

"Just settle down," said Asuka. "Tell us what happened."

"I found Ryou," Fujiwara answered. "He's not in very good shape, I don't think. We were talking, but then some guards found us. They thought he was one of them - he was wearing one of their uniforms - and he managed to escape while I distracted them. I don't know where he is now."

"He ran away?" asked Hayato, sounding surprised. "But he's one of the strongest heroes in the world! Why would he run away?"

"I think they did something to him," said Fujiwara vaguely. "Used some sort of drug on him, like they did to Fubuki. He could barely walk. I think he knew standing and trying to fight would just get us both captured. I think... I think he did something else to help me escape."

He looked worried. For no reason Juudai could define, he felt a chill crawl down his back.

"What did he do?" Juudai asked.

"He let a monster out. He turned it on those men," said Fujiwara. "The same monster that attacked on the beach." He chewed his lip. "I don't think it likes these people very much."

"Sounds like we need to find Ryou, then," said Jim. "Where did you see him?"

"Five floors down," said Fujiwara, "and he was trying to find his way up. But listen, there's something Edo needs to know. His father..."

"Wait," said Taniya, head snapping up. "Someone is coming."

"She's right," said Jim, peering warily down the stairwell. "Back up the stairs - we need room to move!"

They retreated back up to the next landing - and just in time. Asuka, who had been bringing up the rear, had just reached the door that opened onto the previous floor when there was a great rush of wings and something came shooting up the stairs with the force of an oncoming train. Shou yelled and ducked as it whizzed past him, and Manjoume fired off a bolt of electricity at it. It ignored all of them and went sailing upwards. Juudai stared at it as it passed, and thought, _There he goes again._ Why, he wondered, did that strange three-eyed monster produce in him such a sense of familiarity?

Even as he was thinking that, something whitish fluttered down the stairs. His friends, still scrambling to get out of the way, didn't notice, but Juudai reached up and snatched it out of the air. It was about six inches long, made of thin plastic, showing faint traces of color on one side, white on the other side save for where smears of something brown adhered to it. It was a candy wrapper, and in the remnants of color on its outer surface he could just make out the name of one of his favorite brands. Seeing it gave him a small pang of longing. The school didn't sell much in the way of candy, and he hadn't tasted this particular type of chocolate bar since he'd set foot on the island. Come to think of it, the last time he had even touched one of these had been...

Had been on the bus to the testing site, when he'd met a scrawny boy who had bolted down the candy as if he hadn't eaten in weeks. He had been so enthralled by the stories Juudai had invented for him of the good times they'd have when they were on the island together. Whatever had happened to Yubel? He had surely never made it to the academy. Juudai had asked for several days, and no one had heard of him, so he'd finally given up the search and assumed that Yubel hadn't made the cut after all. But what if that hadn't been it? What if he'd fallen into the hands of someone else, someone who thought they could make use of him? Juudai thought again of how outraged the monster on the beach had been when Juudai hadn't recognized him.

 _Is the promise I broke... to Yubel?_

All this passed through his mind in the time it took for the rest of his team to make it through the nearest door.

"Juudai, what are you doing?" Hayato wailed. He dashed back through the door, grabbed Juudai by the arm, and began hauling him up the stairs.

"Hey, stop it!" Juudai yelped. He instinctively tried to squirm away. He didn't want to hide - he wanted to go after that creature and see if his surmises were right.

Voices rose up from the bottom of the stairs: "It went this way! Hurry up!"

A split second later, a gang of uniformed men came tearing up the stairs. They stopped short as they saw Juudai and Hayato.

"Oh, crap," Juudai muttered.

"Intruders!" the lead man shouted, and went charging up the stairs.

Hayato gave a yelp of dismay and dove for the door, and Juudai had no choice but to be dragged along behind him. They disappeared behind a door, but by then, it was already too late.

The good news was that the door opened into a wide lobby of some sort, with plenty of room to move around in. The bad news was that the room was promptly full of people - at least a dozen angry-looking men and women in black jackets.

"All right," the one in the lead shouted, "which of you little freaks let that experiment loose?"

"Wasn't me!" Juudai protested.

The thugs were not comforted by this denial. They fanned out into the room, drawing their weapons. Juudai was relieved to see that none of them seemed to be carrying the kind of dart guns that had taken Fubuki out, but many of them had electric wands and one or two were carrying guns.

"Asuka, watch her," said Jim, indicating a woman on the end of the row who was drawing a pistol.

Manjoume chuckled and rubbed his hands together, throwing out sparks. "Oh, this is going to be _fun_."

Hayato made the first move. From one of his pockets, he produced a handful of folded paper and scattered it across the floor. For a moment, it looked like nothing more than a handful of rather lopsided paper snowflakes, the sort of Christmas decorations a small child could make, all awkward points sticking out at unlikely angles, except that Hayato had clearly drawn on them. Segments had been delineated on each of the points and along the main body of the things, and weren't those two red dots on the ends very like a pair of angry eyes? Then the things folded themselves up, standing on eight pointed legs, the final spike near the end curling into a long tail. Then they weren't paper at all, but a dozen or more scorpions the size of baseball gloves, forming a protective ring around their creator and scuttling ominously outward. One man took one look at the creatures, screamed, and made a run for the door.

He bounced off it, courtesy of one of Asuka's force fields. He rebounded forcefully and collided with two of his companions, who also stumbled and fell. Another man raised a gun and fired off a few shots at Hayato, but Asuka saw the move coming and threw up a second force field. The shots went wild, bouncing back the way they had come and burying themselves in the walls and ceiling. Before the man could react, Shou had shot a series of bolts from his palms and blasted the gun out of his hands.

Three men tried to surround Manjoume, brandishing their electric wands. He grinned at them, showing all his teeth.

"Go on," he said. "Try me. I could use a laugh."

The three guards swung their wands in unison, striking his arms and chest. Electricity arced around him in blue flashes. He laughed.

"Feels pretty good," he said. "Okay, now it's your turn."

He flourished his hands, and lightning bolts flared around him. The three who had been taunting him fell onto the floor twitching.

In short, the battle was a complete rout. In one corner, several men were cowering away from Hayato's scorpions, while another had climbed up on a cabinet to escape from Karen. Asuka had another man pinned to the ceiling by an invisible bubble, and was amusing herself by bouncing him up and down, letting him drop a foot or so before slamming him back into place again.. One of the few men still mobile was trying desperately to escape being pummeled into the wall by Taniya.

"Reatreat!" he shouted. "Everyone out!"

Those who could move made a break for the door. Some of them grabbed their unconscious or immobile comrades and dragged them along behind them. The heroes were happy enough to let them go. They fell back as well, taking down force fields and calling off their creatures so that their enemies could escape unmolested. Within moments, there was no one left in the room save for the crew from Academia.

"I can't believe we did that!" Shou exclaimed. "We just fought off a whole room full of badguys like it was nothing! Juudai, did you see me? Did you see how I...?"

Then he stopped. He looked around the room.

"Hey, guys?" he said. "Where's Juudai?"

They all looked at each other, but no one answered. The answer was obvious: Juudai wasn't there.

* * *

The plaque on the wall read "Medical Ward". Ryou wondered if that meant he was in the right place. He knew something about first aid - it was a required class for all heroes who intended to work in the field. Even those with super-healing or powers that would make them invulnerable might need to perform some rough and ready first aid on a fallen comrade if there wasn't a specialized healer handy. Ryou had learned his lessons diligently. He had just never thought that he might ever want to apply them to himself. He was strong and fast and healed quickly, and he was never going to need help.

Right. Well, he needed help now, and it was just possible that there was something in this place that might counteract the drug he'd taken. Even if there wasn't, there was bound to be some interesting evidence that he could take back with him to the surface. Samples of the drugs they used here were bound to be useful, if he could get his hands on them. He lingered at the entrance to the hallway, calculating his odds. There didn't seem to be very many people around. That was good enough for him. He took a deep breath and started exploring.

On the whole, the rooms were less depressing than the holding cells he'd seen further downstairs. These rooms were bright and tidy, even comfortable, if one ignored all the medical paraphernalia. Some of these were occupied, and Ryou passed by those as swiftly as he could. Others were empty enough and secluded enough that he risked going inside for a look around, but he found nothing of interest in any of them.

 _They must have a dispensary somewhere else,_ he concluded, and wondered how long it would take for him to find it. Surely it couldn't be too far away, most likely on this same floor somewhere. He weighed his odds of finding it before someone found him.

He was still considering his odds when it occurred to him that he'd just seen something odd out of the corner of his eye. He paused, thinking, _No, it can't be. My mind is playing tricks on me._

But the image in his mind was too vivid to ignore. Scolding himself for being a fool, he nevertheless doubled back to peer through the window that had caught his eye.

Yes, this ward was occupied. A young man was lying strapped to the bed, making periodic feeble attempts to wriggle free of his bonds. There was no one else in the room. Even if there had been, nothing would have stopped Ryou from bursting into the room.

"Fubuki!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

Fubuki managed a grin. "Oh, just lying around. Man, am I glad to see you. Think you could give a guy a hand?"

"Just a minute," said Ryou. He began fumbling at the straps. There seemed to be an inordinate number of them to hold down someone who had been as sick as Fubuki. "How did you get down here, anyway? The last time I saw you, you were recovering in the infirmary."

"Apparently these guys _really_ wanted me at their party," said Fubuki with a weak chuckle. "Too bad they couldn't just send an invitation. Anyway, some of their dudes came in, shot Professor Daitokuji, and dragged me off."

 _And no one noticed because they were all too worried about what was going on at the beach._ The realization made Ryou want to grit his teeth. Everything that had happened today made perfect sense now: DD's men had shot Fubuki. DD wanted to know how his test subject was doing, and he'd arranged his very public kidnapping as part of a ruse to get everyone away from Fubuki. No doubt he'd intended to rescue himself after a suitable interval had passed - after all, he was the great DD, and no one would doubt that he'd been able to escape a few random goons. He might have even brought Fubuki with him. Who would have been able to give the lie to any story DD wanted to tell? Either way, one thing was clear: Ryou had never been part of DD's plans. At best, he was just an opportunity that DD had decided to seize on, someone so desperately pathetic and insecure that he could be manipulated into doing voluntarily what Fubuki had been forced to go through. He hadn't really mattered at all.

 _I could really learn to hate this man._

"There," he said, undoing the last of Fubuki's bonds. "You're free, for what it's worth."

Fubuki sat up carefully, then levered himself off the bed. He was wobbly on his feet, but it did Ryou's heart good to see him standing again.

 _If he can get better, so can I._ Ryou tucked an arm under Fubuki's, giving him something to lean on.

"Thanks," said Fubuki. "So what now?"

"That depends," said Ryou. "Are your powers working again?"

"That's an interesting question," said Fubuki. His brows knitted, and he made a gesture with one hand. A bolt of ice the size of a pencil shot across the room and shattered against the wall. Fubuki shrugged.

"Better than the last time I tried," he said philosophically.

"It will have to be good enough," said Ryou. "After getting shot up with that stuff, I'm lucky to be standing upright." He decided not to mention just who had injected it. After all, he hadn't _really_ had a choice in the matter, had he?

Fubuki gave him a sympathetic smile. "Sucks, doesn't it?"

"Like you wouldn't believe," said Ryou. He started guiding Fubuki towards the door. "If anyone sees us, we're saying DD asked me to bring you to him. Don't look too happy about being dragged around, got it?"

"Hey, I've had the same classes as you," said Fubuki. "Give me a little credit. So, where are we going?"

"Upstairs," said Ryou. "Some of our friends are already in the building, and they know I'm here. They'll be looking for me. Either we'll find them, or..."

He let himself trail off. Or what? He wanted to say they'd find DD and break his smug face, but that wasn't really an option, was it? Now Ryou still didn't have any powers, and he had a friend who needed his protection.

 _This day just keeps getting better and better._

"Or what?" Fubuki asked.

"Or we'll sit and rest somewhere until they find us," said Ryou, trying to keep his temper reined in. "Come on, we need to move."

He hauled Fubuki out the door, his mind already racing with alterations to the flimsy plans he'd already had. He couldn't - _couldn't_ \- let anything happen to Fubuki again. He couldn't let DD get away with this, either. He couldn't do much about either problem. Either way, he had to hope that he could find his way back to his friends, that they were still here, that they hadn't been captured or killed, that the monster he had freed had done as he'd asked. That was a lot to hope for.

He sighed. He was so tired.

 _Nothing to do but keep going,_ he told himself, and he took a deep breath and started down the hall.

* * *

There were too many stairs. Juudai rain and ran, mentally cursing whoever it was who had decided that stairs were a rational idea in a building this size, and hadn't just put in some antigravity tubes or teleport panels or something. Anyone who could figure out how to turn perfectly nice people into monsters was bound to be smart enough to come up with something like that. It would have been a _much_ better use of his time. Juudai clutched at the stitch in his side and kept running.

Just when he thought he couldn't possibly climb another step, he reached a door. It had been flung open - torn off its hinges, in fact, and left lying on its side on the floor in front of it.

 _Great, he got away,_ Juudai thought sourly. But no, he could still feel Yubel's presence close by, like a headache outside his head. Was that how it was going to be forever, he wondered fleetingly? Was he always going to be able to feel these weak spots in the world, aching and nagging at him until he fixed them? He didn't think he liked that idea. It was one thing to dream of solving the world's problems, and another to know he'd never be able to stop thinking about them.

Then he stepped out onto the roof, and the rest of his worries were forgotten. Yubel was standing there, just turning around and around in place, staring at everything as if he'd forgotten what cities were. His eyes, all three of them, were wide open, and he was breathing heavily. Even from where Juudai stood, his trembling was evident.

 _What's he so scared of?_ Juudai wondered. He was free now, wasn't he? He had wings. Nothing could hurt him. He could just fly off into the blue and do whatever he wanted, without anyone to stop him.

 _Yes, and so can you,_ a little voice inside reminded him. Once he really got the hang of these powers of his, there would be little that could stop him. He remembered how that realization had made him feel the first time he'd had it. Maybe Yubel was right to be afraid.

"Hey," he said, as gently as he could.

Yubel turned. For a moment, those three wide eyes went even wider. Then they narrowed, face twisting into a snarl of rage.

"You again," he growled.

"Me again," said Juudai. He was trying to keep his voice calm, but doubts were already beginning to surface. What was he basing his guesses on? Some offhand remarks and a candy wrapper? How could he believe that this terrifying thing was the same sweet shy boy he'd met on the bus?

"Have you come to betray me again?" the creature snarled. "I won't let you stop me. I... I'll kill you first!"

"If you kill me," said Juudai, "I'll never be able to keep my promise, will I?"

"You've already broken it!"

Yubel lunged at him, claws extended. Juudai was almost too startled to dodge, and he yelped as he felt claws rake across his upper arm. He crashed into the rooftop, wincing as the rough surface bit into his cheek. He tried not to think about pigeon droppings and whatever else might be up there. It was surprisingly difficult, considering that some sort of angry three-eyed dragon was bearing down on him. He squirmed, twisted out of the way to avoid the flailing claws, managed to knee his attacker in the chest and push him away a few inches. Yubel jerked back with a gasp, and Juudai scrambled to squirm away, only to have his opponent lunge at him again. The two of them tussled like schoolchildren, making uncoordinated jabs and swings at each other. Whatever they had been doing to Yubel, Juudai thought distractedly, it hadn't been focused on teaching him how to fight. With a sudden surge of energy, Juudai shoved at Yubel and managed to flip him over, pinning him on his back. Juudai felt a brief moment of satisfaction. That hadn't been an easy move to pull off with those wings whipping around everywhere. Professor Chronos, he thought, would be proud of him for excelling so well in his practical battle techniques.

He revised that thought an instant later as Yubel shoved with all his considerable might and threw him into the air. Juudai watched as the world spun around him, his view of Yubel and the top of the building rolling past him until he could see nothing but the sky and clouds above him. It occurred to him that he had been thrown rather high - at least five or six feet, by his best guess - and that it was probably going to hurt when he landed. He tensed, waiting for the impact. He waited... and waited...

Then he saw the edge of the building flash past him, and realized that it was not going to hurt when he landed, because by the time he'd fallen fifteen storeys, he would be dead on impact.

 _Okay, this ain't good._

His mind raced as he tried to think of some way out of this situation. If one of his friends saw him fall past a window, they might be able to save him, but that wouldn't work because they were all supposed to be heading for the basement. If he knew more about how his powers worked, maybe he could have gotten himself out of this mess, but there hadn't been enough time to learn before, and there definitely wasn't enough time now. No, there was only one way out of this.

"Yubel!" he shouted. "Help me!"

His voice was whipped away on the wind. He was falling so fast now that he could barely hear himself. He had no idea if Yubel would hear him, or even if he would be willing to come to the rescue. He could only hope...

A shadow fell over him. An instant later, Juudai felt something slam hard into his shoulders, and he yelped, overcome by the sense that someone had decided he wasn't falling quite fast enough and was trying to give him a push. Then he jerked and swung, and he realized he his fall was actually slowing, and something was struggling mightily to lift him up. His plummet halted, and then he slowly began to rise. Wind whipped around him as Yubel pumped his wings, steadily gaining altitude. Soon Juudai was being lowered back onto the roof, until he was crouching on his hands and knees. Yubel dropped down next to him, wings drooping, breathing hard. Juudai sat up and began trying to pull himself together.

"I knew you wouldn't really let me fall," he said quietly.

Yubel raised his head to stare at Juudai with wide eyes. "I threw you off a building!"

"Well, yeah," said Juudai. "I didn't really like that part. But it's okay now, right?"

"I didn't really want to kill you," said Yubel. "I was just angry... You forgot me... You left me here with these people..."

"I know," said Juudai, "and I'm really sorry. I should have tried harder to find out where you went. I promise, if I'd known what you were going through, I would have been here a lot sooner. I'm sorry I didn't recognize you when I first saw you, but now that I've found you, I'm not going to let anything else bad happen to you. All right? No matter what it takes, I'm going to get you out of here."

"And... we'll go to the island, like you promised?" Yubel asked.

Juudai smiled. "Sure we will. You'll like it there. And if you want, Professor Daitokuji and I can try to help you get back to more like you were before."

"I just want to leave," said Yubel softly.

Juudai put a hand on Yubel's shoulder. "Then we will. Soon as we find the rest of my friends, we're going to shut this place down, and then we're going to go home."

"Your friends?" Yubel asked blankly. Juudai had the funny feeling that this was the first time it had ever occurred to Yubel that Juudai might have any friends.

"The people I came here with," Juudai elaborated. "They're nice. They'll be your friends too, if you want. The important thing is that you don't have to stay here any longer. It's all over. You're safe now. Everything is going to be different from now on."

Yubel looked at him with pleading eyes. "You promise?"

Juudai felt his heart give a lurch. After all this, Yubel was still willing to accept a promise from him. He nodded firmly.

"I promise," he said. He tried to stand up, but his knees were still shaking and he had to sit down again. "Um... do you mind if we maybe don't leave right away? I could use a minute to catch my breath."

"I'll wait," said Yubel softly. "I waited a long time already. Now that you're here I don't mind waiting a little longer."

Juudai smiled. With a sigh, he leaned his head on Yubel's shoulder. Yubel gave a start, but then relaxed and curled a wing around him. It was surprisingly warm and comfortable.

 _I'll stay here, just for a little while. I'm sure everyone will be okay..._


	18. Like Father, Like Son

To all outward appearances, Edo was as calm and unruffled as an ice sculpture. He leaned against a wall, perfectly still, letting his reconnaissance team do their work. That team was admittedly not as large or well-prepared as he would like, but given that he normally had no one to rely on but himself, he considered this a step up. Just now, Kenzan was prowling ahead, sniffing the air with his sensitive nose, while Saiou hung back and scanned the area for unfamiliar minds. While they searched, the rest of the team waited for the rest of their orders - stoically, in O'Brien's case, and nervously in the case of Rei and Martin. Edo wasn't sure whether they were hoping more to find something or hoping it would avoid them entirely.

 _I want to find something. Bad enough to lose my father, but to lose DD too... He must be in dire straits if he hasn't already escaped by now..._

He wondered if it were possible that DD had already escaped. It was just feasible that they might have missed each other while Edo was poking around. He checked his communication device, half-hoping that he had missed a message. The screen stayed frustratingly blank.

"Someone is coming," Saiou said suddenly.

Everyone snapped to high alert. A few of them made movements towards the stairwell, but Saiou stopped them with an outstretched hand.

"Not there," he said. " _There._."

He pointed at a shadow between the wall and an open door. Even as Edo watched, the shadow wavered, thickened, and then Fujiwara stepped out.

"Thank goodness, I finally found you," he said. "I've been looking everywhere."

"Are the others in trouble?" asked Edo, going on high alert.

"Not that I know of," said Fujiwara. "But I've learned something important. I need to talk to you... in private, if possible."

Edo frowned. "I can't leave my team unguarded."

"I can tell you here if you really want me to," said Fujiwara. "But this is about your father, and I really think you deserve the chance to deal with it in private."

Edo felt his heart sink.

 _He's not dead. He can't be. Not DD. Not him too..._

"I'll take over for you for a while," said O'Brien. "Kenzan and Saiou won't let anything catch us unawares.

Saiou nodded slowly. "I think it would be best if you heard what he had to say."

His face looked grim, and Edo's spirits sank even further. He couldn't guess why Saiou would look so grave, unless it was that something dreadful had happened to DD, and that was unthinkable. Edo had already lost his original father, but to lose the man who had become like a second father to him would be almost unbearable. Almost, because they were heroes and Edo had always known there might come a day when DD might not make it home, but to lose him when they were so close already...

Edo and Fujiwara retreated to the privacy of an empty office. Fujiwara seated himself on top of a desk, but Edo only paced restlessly over the thin carpet.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Edo asked, a bit more sharply than he'd meant to.

"It's hard to know where to begin," Fujiwara admitted. "While I was exploring, I found Ryou."

"Is he all right?" asked Edo, immediately shifting gears from worrying about his father to worrying about his friend.

"He's been better," Fujiwara admitted, "but he was free and moving under his own power the last I saw him. We were set upon by guards and had to split up, but the point is, we had a chance to talk before we separated. He told me what he's learned so far about what's going on here."

"We know what's going on here," said Edo. "Someone kidnapped my dad and my friend and we're going to take them back."

"Someone kidnapped Ryou," said Fujiwara gently.

Edo scowled. "And my father."

"No."

"You're not making any sense," said Edo, although he had a sinking feeling he knew what was coming. "If nobody captured my father, then..."

"He came here voluntarily," Fujiwara finished.

"You think he's working for them?" Edo asked. "No. No way. He would never..."

"He controls them," said Fujiwara. "This is his place. He's been experimenting with giving people artificial superpowers, and he took Ryou to experiment on."

Edo shook his head. "You're wrong. You have to be wrong."

"I don't think so," said Fujiwara. "Ryou isn't the sort to lie, and he wouldn't say something like that if he didn't know it was true."

"It must be a mistake," said Edo. He glared at Fujiwara, fists clenched. "He has to be wrong. You have to be wrong. It isn't true!"

"I'm sorry," said Fujiwara.

Edo glared at him, as angry as he could ever remember being at anyone. Fujiwara just continued to stare at him with calm, sad eyes. Edo had to fight the urge to hit him just to wipe that expression off his face. What did _he_ know about anything? He'd spent the last who-knew-how-long sealed up in a dimension of darkness. How could he possibly know anything about Edo's life?

But that was just what made him so believable. Fujiwara had lost contact with the world. He had no agenda of his own to pursue. He was here because he wanted to help, and any news he brought, it would be because it was something he genuinely believed to be true and useful.

 _He could be wrong._

He had to be wrong, of course. How could he not be? He wasn't in full possession of the facts. He didn't know what was going on. He must have misunderstood something Ryou had told him. Possibly Ryou himself was unclear on what was going on, and his message had been based on speculation. Perhaps he'd even been drugged by his captors and was dreaming everything.

But Edo couldn't quite make himself believe that. He may not have been born with flashy superpowers, but he'd trained all his life to be a hero, and he had developed certain instincts. He'd felt all along that there was something off about this situation, some piece he was missing. Suppose just for a moment that he accepted what Fujiwara was saying. What did that mean? It would mean that DD had been doing this sort of thing for a long time. This wasn't the sort of arrangement one could set up on the spur of the moment. It would take years to set all this up. Maybe... as many years as Edo had known him?

 _My dad was studying artificially induced superpowers... no one ever did figure out where the stolen research went..._

A cold sense of inevitability washed over him. He was seeing his life from a new perspective, and suddenly all the bits and pieces that had seemed out of place before were suddenly comprehensible. If you just started with the right premise, then it all made sense: why DD had taken an interest in him, why he had gone from insignificance to stardom practically overnight, why DD always wore psychic power blockers, why with all their resources and effort they had never found a trace of the man who killed Edo's father...

 _He was under my nose the whole time. He played me._ Hadn't that been one of Edo's earliest lessons? Always be wary of the stranger who turns up out of nowhere offering help for no obvious reason. Never trust anyone who calls themselves "a friend" and gives a great deal in exchange for a seeming trifle. The easiest way to take down an enemy was to seem to be on their side, right up until the moment when you weren't. Edo had played the turncoat game a time or two himself.

Edo became aware that he had been staring off into space for several seconds without speaking, that Fujiwara was still watching him with concern, and that the rest of his team was probably waiting and wondering what had become of him.

"Thank you for telling me this," he said, in a calm, distant voice. "It is... good to know these things."

"Are you all right?" Fujiwara asked.

"Well, I'm not happy," said Edo. "Don't worry about me. I can cope. Right now, it sounds like we need to focus our energy on Ryou. Then we can worry about what DD may or may not be doing."

Fujiwara sighed a bit, looking relieved. "Yes, that probably is the wisest course of action."

"Do you think you could find him again?" Edo asked.

"I could find the place where he was when I lost him," said Fujiwara. "I don't think he could have gone far from there."

"All right," said Edo. "Here's what we're going to do. You go get a fix on where to start looking, then come back and start leading the team down to him. Rescuing him is now our number-one priority."

"Understood," said Fujiwara. "Should I go now?"

"Yes," said Edo, and then, "No, wait. Do the others know yet?"

"I've told them as much as I thought was relevant," said Fujiwara.

Edo interpreted that as, "They know about Ryou but I left out the personal bits about your father." For that, Edo thought he could forgive him for being the bearer of bad news.

"Good," said Edo. "In that case, you go on. I'll tell my team to stay put here and wait for you."

"I'm on my way," said Fujiwara. The shadows around him rippled, and he was gone. Edo waited a moment to collect himself, then went to rejoin his team.

"All right, everyone, there's been a slight change of plans," he said. "We're going to go rescue Ryou. That is now priority number one. We find him, we get him out, we get him back to Academy Island. We can worry about the rest later if we decide it's necessary."

"But what about..." Rei began.

"DD isn't in danger anymore, according to Fujiwara," said Edo, "and we didn't bring the resources to take down an entire criminal organization by ourselves. This is a rescue mission, plain and simple. I don't want anyone trying anything heroic."

"Well, we're heroes," said Kenzan.

"In training," said Edo sharply. "And I'm not going to go back to Samejima and explain to him why one of you got killed out here. We stick together, all right?"

Everyone murmured assent.

"Right," said Edo. "So we wait here for Fujiwara to come back."

They all settled down in a loose circle to await Fujiwara's return. Saiou contrived to be sitting next to Edo while they waited.

"Are you sure this is...?" he began.

"It's fine," said Edo. "I know what I'm doing."

"I expect you do," Saiou murmured. "But do you know what will happen after you do it?"

Edo was saved from answering this question by the return of Fujiwara.

"All right," he said. "I've mapped out a course to the floor I found Ryou on. The safest and easiest way would be if I brought you through the shadows in short hops. That will get us there in a matter of seconds."

"Good," said Edo. "Rei and Martin can go first and stun anything you might blunder into. Kenzan and O'Brien will go through next and take down anything they stun, and Saiou can come through afterwards and mop up anything they can't deal with themselves. I'll go through last and guard the rear."

Everyone agreed to this plan and lined up in order. Fujiwara passed through the portal, leaving only his hand extended. Rei grabbed on to it, then latched on to Martin's wrist with her other hand and pulled him through. O'Brien and Kenzan followed in a similar fashion. Saiou hesitated a moment, clearly not sure he wanted to go through with this, but in the end, he passed through as well. He held out his hand for Edo to take, and Edo clasped it and stepped towards the portal. He watched the shadows begin to close around him.

 _Thank you, Saiou,_ he thought, knowing his friend would hear him and know what to do.

Saiou did. Just at the last second, he let go of Edo's hand, and Edo dove out of the portal. The shadows closed behind him. Edo rolled across the floor, picked himself up, and waited a moment to see if the others would try to come back and get him. He rather thought they wouldn't. Saiou would explain how matters stood for him.

 _I'll make this up to you somehow,_ he promised mentally. Right now, he had another mission in mind. Or rather, he had the same mission he'd always had, the one he'd been training for most of his life. Amidst all the tumult inside him, that thought still managed to give him some grim satisfaction.

He was going to find the man who killed his father.

* * *

DD sat at his desk, staring off at the ceiling. A stack of reports, fresh from his medical team, sat in front of him, but he wasn't reading them just now. Instead, he was watching the clock.

 _Should have been just about long enough by now._

He knew all too well that Edo was not going to just sit idly by and let the only father he had get kidnapped. He had worked that into his plans. He intended to let himself be rescued along with that Tenjoin character. After all, it wasn't as though they were going to need him very long, just long enough to take a few blood tests and brain scans. Adding that Marufuji character into the mix had complicated things, though. Allowing him to be rescued would mean trusting that he wouldn't reveal what he knew. Leaving him here would be infinitely safer, but it was a question of whether or not Edo would allow it to happen. From what DD had gathered, Edo considered the Marufuji boy a friend, and he had few enough of those that he probably wouldn't want to leave one behind.

 _What a dreadful complication. I hate to just kill him now that I've found him... unless, of course, he's already dead. That would solve everything, I suppose. Hm... I wonder if I could convince him to help me fake his death... No, that won't work, they'll just want to retrieve the body. Maybe if I smuggle him out, convince Edo that they've taken him somewhere else. That will keep him distracted long enough to figure out what else do to. Wait, don't I remember something about a brother? Family is always good leverage. Maybe I can persuade him to behave in exchange for a promise to leave his little brother alone..._

He was still tracing that thought to see where its conclusion lay when something on his desk began buzzing urgently. He frowned and tapped the button on his intercom.

"Boss!" said a frantic, breathless voice. "We've got serious problems here! We're under attack!"

"We're _supposed_ to be under attack," said DD icily. "That was the plan."

"Yeah, but... this is a _serious_ invasion. I mean, I think some of these people must be _real_ heroes."

"Who?" asked DD urgently. Surely they couldn't have called in the Kaiba Corporation, could they? That had always been a risk, that the elusive White Dragon of Domino would come out of his self-imposed isolation to protect the welfare of his students. He had founded the Academy, and while he rarely got involved directly, it was also true that he usually didn't need to. If he had decided that this was a situation he needed to send his team in to deal with - or worse, that he needed to deal with it himself... well, DD had never tested himself against the White Dragon, but he didn't put much faith in his chances of winning. And if this little stunt had somehow attracted the attention of the King of Games himself...

"I dunno, boss. Kids from the academy, I think,"

DD rolled his eyes. "Then it's a good thing for you that the plan involved letting them rescue me, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but these aren't ordinary kids! We can't even slow them down, and we're taking some major damage. And there's more," the voice went on. "That guy you brought in isn't in his room anymore, and the monster got out of its cage, and, and, and the shadows have started attacking people!"

"Wait, go back. What do you mean, the monster got out of its cage?" asked DD, suddenly alert.

"I mean, that experiment! The kid you turned into a monster! His room is empty and nobody knows where he went!"

DD groaned. That was the _last_ thing he needed.

"Well, find it!" said DD. "I'm coming down to deal with this myself. Honestly, I can't rely on you for anything..."

He slammed the button that ended his transmission and stood so sharply that his wheeled chair rolled away and cracked against the wall. He ignored it. Why, he asked himself, did everything have to go wrong at once? Well, he would sort it out. The first thing to do was to find Yubel and get him back into a holding cell before he managed to do something that would cause problems. Then he could worry about the Marufuji boy. He was bound to still be unsettled from his injection, so it was unlikely that he would be going very far. The important thing would be to get it all sorted out _quickly_ , so that there would still be time to arrange for his own "rescue". The timing was going to be a bit tricky.

"Why couldn't they have told me a little sooner?" he muttered, as he strode into the corridor.

Well, he would sort it out. He could always sort things out. He had the power. That was what it all came down to - having power. Once you had that, had enough of it in your hands, there was nothing that could stand up to you.

Even as he thought that, he stepped around a corner and came face to face with Edo.

"Hello, DD," said Edo calmly. "I think we have some things we should talk about."

* * *

And there it was: Edo couldn't doubt the evidence of his own eyes.

 _I should have known Saiou would never lie to me,_ he thought distractedly. Here was his beloved adoptive father, the man who had taught him to fight, encouraged him to become a hero in spite of all the obstacles that path held for him. DD had read him stories when he was a child, taken him for ice cream in the summer, played ball with him in the park. Edo had truly loved DD, and had imagined that they would always be a team.

And now, here he was, alive and well and clearly in no need of rescuing. He hadn't got a hair out of place, or even a speck of dust on his glasses. He did not look particularly glad to see Edo, either, and that was the most damning evidence of all. The expression Edo had seen on his face, before he'd smoothed it over with something more innocent, had been one of pure caught-out guilt.

"Edo," DD stammered. "Thank goodness you..."

"Cut it," Edo snapped. "The farce is over, DD. I know the truth now."

DD stared at him for long seconds.

"I think," he said slowly, "that perhaps the hallway is not the best place to discuss this. Do you mind if we talk this over somewhere private?"

Edo regarded him narrowly. It was starting to dawn on him that if DD truly was the enemy he sought - which was looking more and more likely - then he was in for a difficult fight. He had learned most of what he knew about the heroing business from DD. He was proud of his abilities, but he was young and inexperienced, and DD had years of practice at using his abilities. Edo was going to have to think fast to stay one step ahead of him.

Of course, he did have a secret weapon at his disposal...

"Let's," he said.

"This way, then," said DD.

He led Edo into what had probably, at some point in history, been an office of the cubicle farm persuasion. Now it was empty save for a few bits of forlorn furniture shoved against the walls. Edo felt his hackles rising. Here was a wide-open space, which, while presumably not strewn with traps, was still an invitation to start a fight. There would be room to move and dodge in here, and little chance that Edo's friends would find and rescue him in time if something went wrong.

 _This is it, then. Me against him._ He felt his pulse begin to race with a new emotion, something that wasn't fear and wasn't quite elation but held elements of them both. It was the feeling of a hunter closing in on his long-sought prey. After all these years, all the hoping and dreaming and planning and agonizing, he finally had the man who'd killed his father within his sights. The knowledge that the man he'd found wasn't what he'd been hoping for did not change the fact that it was going to _end_ now. Either he would destroy his father's murderer, or he would die.

 _Well,_ he thought, _at least it will make for good drama either way._

"Just tell me one thing before we start this," said Edo. "Why did you do it?"

"You're so sure that I did," said DD. He managed to sound disappointed. "What in the world put that idea into your head?"

"Don't even try it," said Edo. "Just don't, all right? You're caught. There's nothing you can do to get out of it now."

"You don't really believe it, though," said DD. "Otherwise, you wouldn't be stalling. If you really thought I was the one who killed your father, you would have just gone ahead and killed me." His smile was wry. "I know you too well, Edo. You aren't the type to let personal feelings stand in the way of something like this. No matter how much you love me, if you really believed I was responsible for your father's death, you wouldn't stop until you'd avenged him."

"It won't really be over until I know why it happened," said Edo. "I need to know why. Why did you do it? Why did you adopt me and teach me like this? Why did you kidnap Ryou? What is all this about?"

For a moment, Edo thought that DD was going to continue to dodge and deny. He watched the expressions flit across DD's face, too fast and subtle for anyone who didn't know him well to catch. Edo had thought he knew the man well, but clearly he had been mistaken.

 _What did I really know, though? Outside of training sessions I almost never saw him. He was always off doing hero things, and as soon as I was old enough, so was I. I just assumed it was natural that I wouldn't be as close to a foster father as I was to my real one, so I just didn't worry about it..._

Then DD gave a little laugh and said, "I suppose I should have realized you would work it out someday. I thought sending you away to school would keep you busy for a few more years, but it looks like I was wrong. Good job."

"I don't want your praise, DD," said Edo, fighting to keep his tone level. "I just want some answers. Now. Before I decide I'm just going to have to live with not knowing."

"And if I tell you?" said DD. "What then? Will you let me go? Turn me over to the authorities instead of killing me outright?"

Edo weighed that thought. The laws regarding superheroes and supervillains were different from those governing ordinary people. As long as Edo could make a reasonable case that DD was in fact engaging in some form of villainy, no one would blame Edo for taking his life. People with superpowers were too strong and too unpredictable to be permitted to engage in any sort of lawbreaking, no matter how minor the offense. Either they obeyed the law or they were not allowed to exist. That being said, there were those who believed in extending the hand of mercy. If a villain was deemed too dangerous to remain at large but not so powerful that they couldn't be safely contained, there were special prisons he might be sent to. Edo had usually just gone in for the quick clean kill, when the situation seemed to warrant it. He felt that having power and not being able to use it for anything would be a worse torment than simply dying and getting it over with.

"We'll see how I feel after I've heard your explanation," said Edo. "Go on. Convince me you deserve mercy."

"I know you better than that, Edo," said DD. "You may be willing to hand out justice, but never mercy. But if you really need to know, I suppose I owe it to you."

He began pacing as he collected his thoughts. Edo tensed, watching for him to make a move, noting how he was subtly shifting his position to put more space between himself and Edo. He was trying to get himself out of Edo's range of attack. Edo tried not to let it show on his face that he'd noticed.

"I was born with powers," said DD at last. "I was a little like you, really. I had just enough power to _know_ I had power, but not enough to do anything with. I didn't have rich parents to buy me equipment to make up for my shortcomings. I never got any training. I couldn't get admitted to the Academy. All I got was normal school and a normal life of normal people making fun of me for being a washout hero. So instead of being a hero, I decided to take up science, and learn how to enhance my powers on my own, since Nature decided not to do it for me. So I went to college and studied science, and everyone told me that there was no way to change a person's power level - that whatever you started with was yours for life. You know what that feels like, don't you? To look at the people around you, some of whom were born with the kind of powers that would change the world, and they squander it on becoming babysitters or entertainers."

Yes, Edo had felt like that before. More than once, he had found himself thinking that as averse as he was to crime in general, he felt that in his particular case, if it had been possible for him to mug someone for their superpowers, he could have forgiven himself for doing it.

"Then," DD went on, "I met your father. It was a chance encounter. He came to give a lecture at the college where I'd been working, and we fell into conversation. He told me a little about his research. I knew as soon as I heard about it that if I could just read it, I could make the breakthrough I'd been hoping for all my life. I asked him if I could come work for him as a lab assistant, but he turned me down. He _turned me down_. He said he didn't have the money to pay an assistant, and anyway, he preferred to work on his own."

"So you killed him and took it for yourself," said Edo.

"I didn't intend to kill him!" DD insisted. "I was going to take the papers, yes, but not kill him. It was sheer accident that he came back to the lab and found me there. He tried to take the disk drive away from me, and we tussled, and... I only meant to stun him. It wasn't my fault. Even back then, I was stronger than a normal human, but I hadn't tried to fight someone in so long, I didn't realize my own strength. You have to believe that, Edo: your father's death was an accident."

Edo's eyes narrowed. "What you did after that wasn't an accident, though."

"I kept your father's work alive," said DD. "I proved his theories. I found ways of artificially increasing the powers of superhumans, and even of inducing powers in people who originally had none. It's going to revolutionize the world, the work my team and I are doing. Can you really say that's wrong?"

"There is so much wrong here I don't even know where to begin," said Edo. "You stole my father's research, then you killed him, and now you're taking credit for his work, you're pretending to be this great hero when really you're running some kind of weird underground organization to steal drugs and kidnap people to experiment on them. In what universe is that okay?"

DD smiled faintly. "You sound so horrified. Be honest, Edo: you'd have sold your soul for the power to do what I do, if you could have. But you don't have to. I can fix it for you right now, if you want me to. The only reason I didn't before was that I would have had to explain to you where I got the technology from. Now that you know, there's nothing keeping me from sharing what I know with you. What do you say? Would it be a fair trade? Think of all the good you could do with power like that. In a way, you'd be carrying on your father's legacy. Don't you think he'd want you to benefit from the research he did?"

"I have to admit," said Edo, "that you're right about one thing. I'd have sold my soul for that kind of power if someone had offered it to me yesterday."

"So, what's stopping you today?" asked DD. "Are you getting too scrupulous to take a gift from a tainted source?"

"That's partly it," said Edo. "But mostly..."

He kicked off the floor and hovered gently a few inches above it. DD's eyes widened in surprise, and Edo couldn't help but grin.

"Mostly," he continued, "it's because I don't need to," and he fired a blast of energy at the man who had never really been his father.


	19. Powerful and Powerless

"Do you need to stop and take a rest?" Ryou added.

Fubuki nodded. Ryou helped him hobble over to the most secluded corner he could find, which still wasn't very secluded, and the two of them sat down to take a breather. They had been stumbling around blindly, doubling back every time they heard signs of movement, braced for the moment when they would inevitably be caught. In spite of all that, Ryou was starting to feel better. Part of that was just because he had Fubuki to protect now. It was one thing to be lurching around this place on his own, but another to have someone even weaker than him who needed his help. It made him feel as though he hadn't completely lost his potential to be a hero.

The other good thing was that he felt his strength finally returning to him. He was no longer short of breath just from walking down a hallway, even with the added strain of having to support most of Fubuki's weight, and the headache and nausea had subsided almost completely. He still didn't feel as though he could use his powers, but at least he felt like he wasn't about to drop dead. It was a definite improvement.

 _But it won't feel like one if I never get my powers back,_ said the niggling little voice in the back of his head. He ignored it. Fubuki had said that his powers seemed to be returning to him. Surely that meant that Ryou's would come back eventually, too. Unless perhaps whatever Fubuki had been given was not the same as what Ryou had used...

"How are you feeling?" Ryou asked, trying to keep his tone calm. He had never learned how to manage a proper bedside manner.

"Not exactly ready to run any marathons," said Fubuki. "But I'm starting to pick up a little, I think." He held up one hand. A snowball materialized there, and he tossed it across the hall. It went _splat_ against the opposite wall in a thoroughly satisfying manner. Fubuki mustered up a shadow of his old carefree grin.

"Yup," he said. "On the road to recovery."

"You'll be burying the school in snow in no time," Ryou agreed. "Ready to try walking again?"

"Walking doesn't sound so bad," said Fubuki. "Getting up..."

"I'll help," Ryou promised, although he wasn't sure how he was going to stand up either.

As it turned out, he didn't have to. The shadows in the corner began to thicken and grow darker. Fubuki emitted a small yelp, but Ryou smiled and breathed a small sigh of relief.

"Don't worry," he said. "This is just help arriving."

Fujiwara materialized in front of them. He paused. He blinked a few times.

"Fubuki?" he said. "You're here? I thought we left you back at the infirmary."

"It's amazing, isn't it?" said Fubuki. "Sometimes I even surprise myself."

"What's going on up there?" Ryou asked.

"The others are on their way. We're meeting a lot of resistance, though," said Fujiwara. "And I gave Edo your message. He didn't take it awfully well."

Ryou couldn't help but smile a little. "No, I don't imagine he would. What is he doing now?"

"I'm not sure," Fujiwara admitted. "I went and told him what was going on, and he said we would rescue you and then get out of here. I brought the rest of the team to a location close by here, but when I went back to get Edo, he was gone."

"If you don't know where he went, you obviously don't know him very well," said Ryou.

"I know where he went," said Fujiwara. "Saiou told me. I was all for finding him and dragging him back, but we agreed you probably needed help first."

"You did the right thing," Ryou assured him. "Look, you said the others are nearby?"

"Yes, but..." Fujiwara began.

"Then take Fubuki to them," said Ryou. "Get him somewhere safe if you can. I need to get to Edo."

"You can't," said Fujiwara. "You'll get hurt. Even more hurt," he corrected himself.

"Edo's going to get himself hurt," Ryou insisted. "DD is one of the most powerful heroes on earth, and he's got all kinds of tricks that none of us are truly prepared for. DD taught him everything he knows - there's nothing Edo can do that DD won't know how to counter. Edo can't beat him alone."

"You aren't going to be much help either," Fubuki pointed out. "You can barely stand up."

"But I can talk sense into Edo," said Ryou. "He's more likely to listen to me than to anyone else. Get Fubuki to safety and get me to Edo."

"I don't feel good about this," said Fujiwara.

"You can come back and get Edo and me out after you've taken care of Fubuki," said Ryou. "But I want to at least try to help Edo. He's my friend."

Fujiwara hesitated a moment. Ryou watched him steadily until at last, Fujiwara gave in with a sigh.

"All right," he said. "I don't like it, but I'll try. Give him here, and then hold on to me."

Ryou gratefully transferred Fubuki's weight over to Fujiwara. Once Fubuki was comfortably settled against Fujiwara's shoulder, Fujiwara reached out with his other hand.

"Hold very tight to me," he said. "I'm going to make this a short jump, but it's still not going to be easy to carry both of you."

Ryou nodded and let Fujiwara pull him up. He was proud of the way he managed to get to his feet while only bracing himself a little bit against the wall. He really was getting better. Too bad it was probably too much to hope that he would have recovered completely by the time he got to Edo.

Then the world shifted, and all he could think about was holding on to Fujiwara's arm. The shadows crowded all around him, thick as cotton, clinging as spiderwebs. They weighted him down and threatened to drag him away, as though Fujiwara was leading him underwater through a powerful current. When they emerged into the light again, Ryou gasped, realizing belatedly that he'd been holding his breath.

"Sorry, sorry," said Fujiwara. "I'm really out of practice."

"It's... fine," said Ryou, still catching his breath. "Where are we?"

"The elevator," said Fujiwara. "Saiou says you can find Edo and DD on the top floor. You go on, and I'll get Fubuki to safety."

"Right," said Ryou. He forced a smile for his two oldest friends. "Thanks. And don't worry - I can handle this."

"I know you can," said Fujiwara.

"Yeah, kick his butt for me!" said Fubuki.

"You can count on it," said Ryou.

He pressed the button for the elevator, and Fujiwara waited with him just long enough see the elevator doors open and Ryou step inside. Just as the doors closed again, Ryou saw the shadows close around his two friends, and he let himself relax against the corner of the elevator, knowing that at least these two were going to make it out safely.

 _Sorry, Fubuki, Fujiwara. I don't think I'm going to be able to keep my promise._

* * *

Edo had to admit that for all his mixed feelings about this battle, seeing the shock on DD's face when the energy beam hit him was intensely satisfying.

 _You really thought the same as everyone else, didn't you?_ he realized. _All that training and "helping" me, but you really thought I wasn't as good as you because I didn't have powers. Well, the shoe is on the other foot now!_

He fired off a few more energy beams. One smashed through a far window, one went sizzling into the floor, but the third one slammed into DD's arm and half spun him around. DD staggered and managed to catch himself before he fell. He stared at Edo, too shocked even to retaliate.

"What did... how did you...?" he blurted. "What is going on here?"

"Just what I told you," Edo answered. "I don't need your help. I found a way to increase my powers that doesn't hurt anybody, doesn't require any drugs or any weird experiments or anything else. I don't need your help - and pretty soon, neither will anybody else. Your empire is coming to an end, DD. You might as well give up."

DD's eyes widened. Just for an instant, he looked scared - not of Edo, but of the idea that soon all his plans would be meaningless.

"You're lying," said DD.

"Oh, sure," said Edo. He kicked gently off the floor, so that he hovered gently a few inches off the ground. "I'm totally kidding you about the fact that I'm _flying_."

"It's a trick," said DD. "It's something you're getting one of your friends to do."

Edo made a show of looking around. "Funny, I don't see anybody. It's just you and me up here right now. I wouldn't allow it to be anything else. Just you and me, settling things."

"Then let's settle them," said DD. "Prove you're the real thing by taking me on."

"Gladly," said Edo, and dove at him.

Edo had always been good at hand-to-hand combat. He didn't have the steel-crushing strength that some heroes had, but he had learned from study and experimentation that even the ones with super strength still felt pain when you hit them. As long as you avoided being hit yourself, you could sometimes knock them out even with ordinary human strength.

 _And I don't have ordinary human strength anymore._

With great and satisfying precision, he drove his fist into DD's solar plexus. DD fell back with a gasp, and Edo couldn't help but smile. It didn't matter how strong you were - if you could land a hit in just the right spot there, almost anyone would be stunned for a moment or two. Edo followed up with an uppercut to the chin before falling back again, awaiting his opponent's next move. DD staggered backwards and hit the wall, shaking himself to try to throw off what was doubtless a lot of pain.

"Ah, my boy," he rasped. "You've come a long way from when we first met."

Edo scowled. "Don't think you can distract me with nostalgia."

DD took a few more gasping breaths as he pulled himself upright. Then, fast and sharp, he smiled.

"I don't need to," he said.

He lunged. Edo dodged, or tried to - he was still getting used to the fact that he could fly. His erratic contact with gravity left him tumbling, and he just barely turned the spill into a controlled somersault. He managed to hit the wall feet-first, right himself, and spring back at DD. DD dodged him easily and fired a blast of energy in Edo's direction. Edo tried to twist out of the way, but once again his new powers of flight betrayed him, and he ended up accelerating himself face-first into the floor. He rolled, trying to stifle a grunt of pain. DD laughed.

"This is new," he said. "You aren't usually prone to clumsiness... or to idle boasting. It seems your new powers aren't so impressive after all."

He fired another energy blast, and then another. Edo was able to roll out of the way of the first, but the second caught him badly. He heard something shatter, and he turned his head to see that his trusty tool belt had broken and fallen away.

 _Damn it,_ he thought. _How am I supposed to... hold on, you don't need that anymore. Get your act together!_

He shook himself. There was too much to think about all of a sudden. Yes, he had these powers now, and yes, he had a general idea how to use them, but it was dawning on him that knowing how to use them and knowing how to use them _effectively_ were two different things. He was focusing so much on finding opportunities to use his new skills that they were distracting him from using the old ones. It was like a juggling act in his head, trying to remember everything at once. He hadn't realized how much being able to levitate would change the way he moved, or the way his new boost in strength would change the distance he could jump and lunge. There were suddenly a thousand tiny maneuvers that he had known by heart, things that were inscribed in his muscle memory to the point where he no longer had to think about them, and they were now completely useless. He was going to have to learn them all over again, except that he might not have time because he was in the middle of a fight that he was starting to realize he was probably going to lose.

"You know," said DD, "I really don't want to kill you. I'm honestly quite fond of you. I won't say that you've been like a son to me, but as a protégé, you've been everything I could have hoped for. I wish it didn't have to end like this."

"Do you want to know why I haven't been like a son?" Edo muttered. He was having trouble speaking properly; he had bitten his tongue when he'd landed, and there was blood in his mouth. "Because you're not my father. I don't _have_ a father because of you."

"But you don't have to lose anyone else," said DD. "Let's stop this right now. It doesn't have to end this way. Just give up and we can go our separate ways. You can say you killed me, if you like - or we can say that you tried to rescue me but were too late, if that's still an option. I'm willing to let you go if you're willing to keep my secrets."

"No," said Edo, dragging himself to his feet. "This has gone on too long. The only way this can end is with you dead or me."

DD's features hardened. "So be it, then."

He flourished a hand, and Edo braced himself to dodge. Already his mind was racing with thoughts: what was he going to do next? How was he going to react? How was he going to subdue this man when he'd dropped his tool belt? All his weapons were in there, all his specialized restraints, all his smoke grenades and other little tricks. Yes, he had his energy beams now, but what difference did that make? DD could use those too, and he was better with them than Edo was.

 _He knew I'm most effective using my tools. That's why he was aiming for them in the first place. I'm an idiot, thinking I was ready for this..._

Involuntarily, his mind jumped sideways, back to the night when they had first made that run on the warehouse. It had been Ryou's first mission, and Ryou had been so annoyingly _smug_ about the whole thing, so sure that he could handle it all with one hand tied behind his back. Edo remembered how frustrated he had been with his friend and rival. Now Edo could feel some sympathy towards Ryou. It was clearly all too easy to think you were more prepared for a situation than you really were...

Then he wondered why he'd been thinking about Ryou anyway. The middle of a battle was hardly the place to be worrying about his personal life. He needed to concentrate on this fight, on dodging whatever DD was throwing at him and on getting back to where his tool belt had fallen so that perhaps he could have a chance at getting out of this situation alive.

It was only as he was turning to dodge yet another blast that came too close for comfort that he realized what had put the thought in his mind, what he had glimpsed out of the corner of his eye as he ducked and dodged.

Ryou was standing in the doorway.

* * *

The sounds of battle had drawn Ryou onward. He knew that sound: the whizz of energy beams, the shouts of pain and fury, the crash of property destruction on a controlled scale. It was the music he'd set his life to, and it was all he could do not to break into a run. He couldn't afford to waste his strength by rushing. Instead, he walked as briskly as he could without straining himself until he found the source of the noise.

He was not at all surprised to find Edo locked in combat with DD. He'd expected that. What he hadn't expected was to find that Edo was _losing_. Edo often gave Ryou a hard time for scorning him, claiming that Ryou believe Edo to be inferior for his lack of powers. He hadn't been wrong. Ryou did feel that Edo operated under certain limitations that would put him at a disadvantage a lot of the time, but believing someone had disadvantages was not the same as believing they were incapable of succeeding. In his heart of hearts, Ryou realized, he had never really believed that there was a situation Edo couldn't handle. Now here he stood, watching DD mopping the floor with him.

 _I'm too late,_ Ryou thought, and swore. No one appeared to hear him. The two combatants were too busy with their struggle to pay any attention to him. That was just as well, since it was unlikely that he could do anything to interfere at this point anyway. Even if he had the strength to walk about normally, he definitely wasn't up to picking a fight with one of the most powerful heroes - or villains, as the case might be - in the world.

 _I need to get out of here. I should call for help. I should... wait. When did Edo learn to do that?_

He rubbed at his eyes, trying to work out if he was seeing things. He didn't appear to be. Edo was hovering a few feet in the air, firing off energy beams as though he'd been born to it. _That_ was new. He wondered if DD had given Edo a dose of one of his experiments, or if there was something else at work here. Unfortunately, there was no way he could ask about it now.

DD punched Edo hard in the stomach and sent him flying. Without thinking about it, Ryou made a dive to catch him. He realized almost immediately that this was a bad idea, and they both went tumbling across the floor to slam hard into a chair that had been pushed against the wall. Ryou took the brunt of it and gasped as the hard metal legs dug into his back.

"Argh. I didn't need that," he grumbled.

"Ryou, you idiot," Edo snarled. "Get out of here! This isn't your fight!"

Ryou ignored the command. "What the hell is going on here? Since when can you fly?"

"Since about three hours ago," said Edo. "I'll explain later, or Juudai will."

"Juudai? What does he have to do with..."

"Just get out, okay?" Edo snapped. "This is personal."

"Let him stay," said DD. "There's nothing he can do to help. If the initial bioscans we took off of him after he injected the serum I gave him are even close to accurate, he hasn't got the strength to fight off a puppy right now."

Edo looked startled. "What serum? What are you talking about?"

"Oh, you didn't know that? I suppose you wouldn't," said DD. "Mr. Marufuji and I had a deal, you see. I would give him access to my materials on increasing superpowers if he would agree to become my ally. He agreed, so I gave him one of my special preparations, and he injected it of his own free will. Unfortunately, it seems that he is already so close to his own biological limits already that the injection resulted in some sort of overdose phenomenon. His body has shut down his entire array of superpowers in self-defense - perhaps temporarily, perhaps permanently. Who can say? That's one of the reasons I wanted him here. I've never had such a powerful hero to experiment on before. I had a suspicion this could happen, but this is the first time I've ever seen it..."

 _He's monologuing,_ Ryou thought, impressed in spite of himself. _He's actually doing it. They told me in class that supervillains can't resist a good monologue, but I never believed it myself. I never thought anyone would waste time that way when they could just finish off their opponents and be done with it. His brain must be fried from all those drugs he's been injecting._

But maybe he was justified. Ryou knew DD was right about one thing - there wasn't a single thing he could do to DD right now that DD couldn't block. Right now, even a third-tier hero like one of those goons who tagged along after Manjoume could knock Ryou out cold. Edo was clearly on the ropes - there was blood on his face and his clothes, and he seemed to be having trouble standing straight. If he couldn't stand up to DD, capable as he was, then what could Ryou hope to accomplish?

 _Remember your lessons. If you're in a fight you can't win, and there's no chance of escape, then stall. Try to bluff. You've got a class one monologuing villain in front of you - if you can't figure out how to keep him running his mouth, then all your training has been wasted._

"You aren't going to get away with this," he said. It was hardly what anyone would call an original line, and Ryou hated himself for using it, but the reason why such old lines kept being used was because they had their place. "Your secret is out now. Too many people know what you've been doing, people besides Edo and me. Fubuki knows, and he's on his way to safety right now. Saiou knows, and you should know what he's like. Fujiwara Yusuke knows, and he's a memory manipulator. If he doesn't want you to get at him, you won't even remember he exists until it's too late for you."

DD actually looked taken aback by this. For a moment, he looked so angry that Ryou was certain he had overplayed his hand, and that he was about to be blasted off the face of the earth for his impertinence. Then a look of resignation replaced the anger. DD shrugged.

"So that's it, then," he said. "I always knew it would come to this someday. Well, it can't be helped, I suppose." He turned to look at Edo. "Is this how you really want it, then? For your father's work to be relegated to obscurity? Do you want his legacy to be lost because you cared more about getting revenge than keeping it alive?"

"You're not giving me many other options," said Edo. He was hauling himself painfully to his feet. Ryou could see that he was not so much getting his second wind as forcing himself to make the best showing he could.

"You could still join me," DD offered. "

"Not interested," said Edo.

"Then this will be the last gift I can offer you," said DD. "That I kill you in front of your friend, so someone will know how you died and be able to say you died a hero."

He flung himself at Edo, and the two began to fight. Ryou watched in disapproval. No one seemed to remember that Ryou was there. That annoyed him. He was used to being the focal point of any fight, but now that he had no powers, he was apparently fit only to be ignored.

 _I owe Edo some apologies,_ he decided. _This is humiliating._

But perhaps he could take advantage of it. Invisibility was a superpower too, after all. As the battle raged around him, Ryou withdrew a little into a corner, where an old filing cabinet provided some cover, and he watched the fight unfold. He had never watched DD fight before, and a small part of him was interested to see what this so-called greatest hero in America fought like. Ryou had to admit, he was impressed. He'd have expected someone like him to be a flashy fighter, showing off to the world just how powerful he was. Clearly Ryou should have known better. DD fought with a simple, straightforward style, designed to put his enemies down and keep them down in the shortest amount of time possible. It was really enough to annoy Ryou - that was the sort of style he worked to emulate, and it bothered him that someone like DD should have claimed it as his own. There was so much that Ryou and other heroes like him could have learned if he had applied himself to teaching instead of... well, this.

Ryou forced himself to turn his attention to Edo. That was hardly something to alleviate stress. Ryou's old friend was losing badly, receiving three hits for every one he landed on DD, and he was clearly feeling the toll. That was wrong. Ryou had never seen Edo so inept before.

 _It's because he's lost his toolbelt,_ Ryou decided. _He's not used to fighting without it. Hm..._

The tool belt was resting against the far wall, partially hidden beneath a chair. No one seemed to remember that it was there. Moving stealthily, thanking his lucky stars for his unobtrusive new black uniform, Ryou crept around the perimeter of the room. He waited until something particularly explosive happened before making a final dash and snatching the tool belt up from where it lay.

 _Funny, I don't think I've ever actually held this before._ That thought struck him as odd. All this time he had known Edo, and he had never so much as bothered to pick up any of his tools just to see what they felt like and how they worked. _I never thought I'd need them... but that's no excuse. I shouldn't turn my nose up at a weapon that's close at hand just because I think I'm too good for it._

His questing hands fell upon a coil of metal, and he slipped it out of its pouch. This was the whip Ryou remembered from their ill-fated raid on the warehouse, a length of flexible metal cord with a weight on one end. He held it in his hand and gave it a practice flick.

 _I think I can manage this..._

He hitched the belt around his waist and slid the straps over his shoulders. The weight of it, with its many pockets and holsters, was reassuring. Suddenly he wasn't powerless anymore, and it felt good.

 _Let's have some fun._

More confident now, he edged his way over to where the battle was still raging. Edo was still having a hard time of it, but Ryou had to give him credit: he was learning fast. Even as Ryou watched, Edo landed a solid punch and backed it up by firing an energy blast at the same time. He timed it perfectly, and DD was flung backwards a few feet. He snarled and lunged, hands outstretched as though he meant to throttle Edo with them, and...

...fell flat on his face as the whip looped around his ankle and pulled him to an abrupt halt. Ryou lurched and nearly lost his grip from the force of the pull, but he hung on. A flip and a twist pulled the whip free, and Ryou dashed over to stand at Edo's side.

"You look like you could use some help," he said.

Edo shot him a look. "You were supposed to run away."

"I don't take orders from you," said Ryou. "What else have you got in this rig, anyway? Anything that could help?"

"The usual," said Edo. "Some caltrops, some glue bombs, three smoke grenades, my whip, a collapsible electric rod. The school won't let me carry anything lethal, can you believe it?"

"Scandalous," Ryou agreed. "Where did you say that electric rod was, again?"

"Left hip pocket," said Edo, as DD readied himself for another attack. "Are you sure you want to be doing this?"

"Can't think of anywhere I'd rather be," said Ryou.

DD snarled at them. "Ganging up on me? As though that will help."

Ryou slipped the electric baton from its pocket. A quick press of a button caused it to extend, and another switch made it crackle to life. Edo shifted a little, falling naturally into a back-to-back combat position that was drilled into every Academia student from the day they started classes. Ryou almost smiled. All right, so he was up against the greatest hero in America, who was apparently also one of the biggest villains, he had no powers to call on and only unfamiliar weapons at his disposal, but that was all right. He was with a partner he knew well enough to predict how he'd move, and he had his training to fall back on. He was ready.

"Two against one, DD," he said. "If you don't like those odds then I suggest you back down."

"You wish," he said.

DD fired off a barrage of energy bolts, leaving a line of scorched spots across the far wall, but Ryou and Edo had already sprung apart. Edo let loose with several beams of his own. DD tried to dodge, and would have, if Ryou hadn't snagged him with the whip again and struck the metal chain with the shock baton. The whip's rubberized grip protected Ryou from the jolt, but DD was not so lucky. Edo looked on with admiration.

"Why didn't I think of that?" he asked no one in particular.

With a terrific effort, DD managed to wrench himself free, staggering a little as he tried to find someplace to stand where he would be out of both Edo's and Ryou's reach. The two of them kept circling him, making sure that one of them was always behind him where he couldn't see what they were doing. The tactic was working. With Ryou to take the pressure off and give Edo time to think about how to use his new powers in conjunction with his old skills, he was beginning to make headway. There wasn't a lot Ryou could do with just the contents of Edo's toolkit, but he could do enough to keep DD distracted while Edo did the heavy lifting. If DD tried to fly, Ryou used the whip to pull him back to earth. If he tried to dodge, Ryou threw handfuls of caltrops to spoil his footing. He used the bright pocket flashlight to dazzle his eyes, and every time DD got near enough, Ryou jabbed him with the electric prod.

He had just managed to get a good jab in when Edo took to the air and slammed into DD like a missile. DD was flung off his feet and into a wall, where he slumped into a heap. Edo landed lightly in front of him, and Ryou took up his position next to Edo, watching for signs of movement. Despite the beating he'd been taking, DD still didn't look very damaged. His hair was disheveled, his clothing torn, and his glasses had fallen off, but he himself looked only a bit winded.

 _He can keep this up for hours,_ Ryou thought. _I don't think we can hold out that long..._

"I suppose you think you've won," said DD. He was fumbling for something under his jacket, and Edo and Ryou both tensed as they prepared to either dodge or strike it from his hands. Instead, DD pulled out... a common cell phone. He flicked it open and pressed a series of buttons before tossing it aside. Somewhere deeper in the building, sirens began to blare.

"What did you just do?" Edo demanded.

"Raised the stakes," said DD. "That was the emergency alarm. When my men hear that signal, they have orders to scour the building and destroy everyone they find who isn't part of our team. How many of my people do you think your friends are up to fighting off? How long before they're overwhelmed by sheer numbers? How much do you want to gamble that you can kill me and still have time to help your friends?"

For a moment, the only sound was that of the distant blaring alarms. Ryou realized that he had no idea how many of his fellow students were down there now. How big a rescue team had come for him? More importantly, who was in it? Ryou had a sinking feeling he knew. Shou had been so proud of his new abilities that it was hard to imagine he wouldn't jump at a chance to use them...

Whatever calculations Edo was working through, he came to the same conclusions. He shot a look at DD that should have cut him down no matter what superpowers he had.

"You're dead," Edo snarled. "You're a dead man walking. Remember that. No matter where you hide, no matter what henchmen you surround yourself with or what lies you tell, you are dead. You just haven't stopped walking yet."

Then he turned and rushed out of the room, shooting venomous looks over his shoulder as he went. Ryou followed at a slightly more dignified pace, mostly because he was too tired to manage the headlong dash he would have liked.

At least he managed to snap DD in the face with his whip on the way out.


	20. A Show of Power

Asuka was resisting the temptation to start pacing the floor. Now was not the time to let anyone see her losing her nerve. She restrained herself to glaring down at the shortwave radio in her hands.

"Where _is_ he?" she demanded.

"In the building somewhere," said Misawa testily.

The rational part of Asuka's mind couldn't blame him for being annoyed with her. She was making irritable demands of her support team, and refusing to accept the answers she was getting. That was not how they taught her to do things in school. All the same, she was learning that what sounded straightforward and sensible in a classroom was harder to manage when you were out in the field and one of your team members had simply _disappeared_.

"That isn't helping," said Asuka. "Can't you give us a better idea where to start looking? This building is huge."

"I'm sorry, but my maps are only in two dimensions," said Misawa. "He's in the building - nearly on top of you, unless he's underneath. I've tried paging him and he isn't answering. When I patched into his device and listened in on him, it sounded as though he were fighting with someone. Then I lost the signal. I'm assuming his radio was damaged during the fight."

Asuka bit her lip. "But Juudai's not a fighter. He has no powers. He can't..."

"I know what Juudai is," said Misawa. "I've seen him in action. He is one of the most determined and resourceful people in our school, with or without powers. If it's any consolation, from what I heard before the signal cut off, whoever he was fighting wasn't having it all their own way. I'm assuming it couldn't have been anyone with powers - not battle-related ones, anyway. He stands as good a chance as anyone in a situation like that."

"That doesn't matter," said Asuka. "He's still part of our team, and we need to find him!"

"I'll put Johan on the job next time he checks in," Misawa assured her. "He can go to the right coordinates and jump up and down floors until he finds him."

Asuka breathed a small sigh of relief. "Thank you. Let me know as soon as you hear anything."

"Will do," he agreed. "Over and out."

Asuka turned off the connection feeling slightly reassured. She still didn't know what had happened to Juudai, but Johan and Misawa would find out and let her know.

She turned back to the rest of the team. Of her group, Taniya had been attempting to track Juudai's movements in tiger form, sniffing for his scent, but there had been so much running around that she was not sure if the traces she was picking up were left when he fled, or just left over from when they had passed through the first time. Hayato was helping by creating little paper planes and sending them sailing around the building with orders to come back if they found anything. Everyone else was scouting around, looking for either signs of Juudai or signs of more attackers. They began drifting back her way when they realized she was done talking.

"Did he find him?" Shou asked anxiously.

"Not yet, but he's working on it," she replied. "We should know something soon."

Shou looked only mildly comforted. "I hope they find him soon. I'm getting worried."

He looked down at his hands. Asuka felt a stab of pity for him. She understood, by now, about the magnitude of his gift, but now she was starting to understand the magnitude of its drawbacks. Right now, she was sure, he was wishing he'd found someone like Saiou with psychic powers to copy from, so he could simply search the aether and find Juudai right away. She didn't envy him. She knew her skill at force fields was ultimately limited. She could do a lot through creative application of them, but she could never light fires with them, or heal an injury, or turn herself into a wolverine. If a situation came up where only one of those things would save everyone, no one would be able to blame her if everything went badly. For Shou, any time something like this went wrong, he was going to have to wonder if things might have been different if he'd readied a different skill ahead of time.

"It's okay," she said gently. "Misawa and Johan are looking for him now, and Juudai's tough. He's going to surprise all of us, you'll see."

Shou gave her a wobbly smile. "Yeah, you're right. That's what Juudai's best at - surprising people."

Asuka smiled back. She might have said more, but just then, Jim's head snapped up, and he called, "Heads up, people - something big's coming!"

Everyone backed against the walls. Asuka gathered a shield in front of her and as many of her friends as were in range. Across from her, she saw Manjoume collect a handful of sparks, and Shou's fingertips began to glow purple. Hayato scrambled for a fresh handful of dropped into a crouch and growled.

A moment later, the shadows in one corner began to warp, and then a dark-clad figure stumbled out. No, Asuka corrected - two figures, one leaning heavily on the shoulder of the other one.

"Fubuki!"

Asuka scrambled forward, ran into her own shield, and scrambled to take it down so she could rush to her brother's side. He raised his head and gave her a lopsided version of his usual sunny smile.

"Hey, there," he said. "Knew you couldn't keep away from me."

"You idiot," she said, and hugged him.

Fujiwara let Asuka take some of Fubuki's weight. "I've been looking all over for you people. It's not easy, shadow-jumping while carrying someone, especially when I don't know where I'm going."

"Are you all right?" Asuka asked Fubuki, gazing anxiously into his eyes.

"I'm fine," said Fubuki. He carefully balanced himself on his feet. "Just being dragged through that darkness kinda takes it out of a guy."

"Sorry," said Fujiwara contritely. "I was never meant to be a passenger service."

Asuka smiled and hugged her brother. "As long as you're okay."

"I had to be," he said. "I had to come home to my sweet little sister, didn't I?"

Asuka laughed. "You never change."

"So where's Brother?" Shou asked. "Weren't you looking for him?"

"I found him," said Fujiwara, "but he was worried about Edo and decided to go look for him. I'm pretty sure he's gone to the top floor of the building to check on him."

"Then we should go there too!" said Shou.

"I thought we were looking for Juudai," said Manjoume.

Shou looked slightly embarrassed at this reminder. "Maybe he went that way too?"

Fujiwara looked mildly alarmed. "Have you lost Juudai now?"

"He ran off," said Jim. "We got into a fight with some of the locals, and by the time we sorted that out, he'd disappeared."

"Well, let me see..." said Fujiwara. He looked distant for a moment. "Well, his shadow is up on the roof, so I'm assuming he's still attached to it."

Shou brightened. "Is he okay? What's he doing?"

"Just sitting there," said Fujiwara. "Sitting, not lying down. There's someone else with him whose shape I don't know, and they're sitting next to him. They don't seem to be in any distress. If I had to guess, I'd say they were resting."

"Well, Misawa did say Juudai was in a fight the last time he was able to make contact," said Asuka. "I guess it tired him out."

"I'll go check on him," Fujiwara offered. "Make sure he doesn't need medical assistance. If he does, I'll fetch Johan in."

"Good plan," said Jim. "As for the rest of us, we'll..."

He didn't get any further than that, because a siren started going off.

"What the hell's that?" Manjoume shouted over the noise.

"Trouble," said Jim. "We're about to be attacked - everyone get ready!"

Asuka turned her attention to Fubuki.

"Are you up for this?" she asked. "If not, you'd better get behind me."

Fubuki held up his hands and stared at them. Two snowballs formed in each palm.

"I'm not a hundred percent," he said, "but I can give you guys some backup."

"Right," said Jim. "Then our main objective is to try to retreat to safety. I have a feeling things are about to get hot in here. No breaking off from the main group to rescue somebody, no heroic last stands - we just get out and trust our friends to get out too. Understood?"

Asuka nodded. Hard as it was to walk away, she understood that it would be better for some of them to escape then for all of them to be lost because they'd tried to do something valiant and stupid. A small part of her whispered that it would all be worth it as long as she got Fubuki out. The rest of her insisted that if she didn't get her _entire_ team out of here safely, she had failed as a hero. She tapped her communication device.

"Misawa," she said, "we're in trouble. We're trying to get out of the building. Tell the others if you can reach them."

"Can do," he said. "Sending backup. Over and out."

 _Backup?_ she wondered distractedly. _Who have we got for backup?_

But she never had time to answer, because by then, the enemy was already in front of her.

* * *

There were too many.

That was what Saiou was thinking as he huddled behind the more able fighters in his group. The sound of the alarms was making it difficult for Rei and Martin to use their abilities - Rei's voice had to be audible for her charms to work, and even Martin was having trouble making himself heard over the clamor. Kenzan was in dinosaur shape and unrepentantly chomping anyone who came near, but he was so large that it was hard for him to guard himself on all sides. He might be gnawing on someone's leg on one end of the room while his tail was being attacked on the other end. He was clearly getting flustered, and his writhing to escape the assault on all sides was creating a danger that he might step on a teammate by accident. Only O'Brien was keeping his cool, as he threw fireballs and jets of flame at anyone who came too near. Even so, it was only a matter of time before someone managed to get a lucky shot at him, and then they were all done for.

 _It's up to me, then,_ Saiou decided. He hadn't wanted to take this course of last resort. The truth was that outside the carefully restricted confines of his rooms, he had difficulty controlling his powers on a large scale. Small displays of power, like reading the Tarot cards for Juudai - that, he could manage. But something big, like trying to control this entire mob at once, would lead to unforeseeable consequences. He would not be able to fine-tune how much harm he did to his targets. They might be momentarily stunned, or they might end up with permanent brain damage. The worst part, from his perspective, was that once he'd unleashed that level of power, he wouldn't be able to help his friends any further.

On the other hand, he wasn't helping them much now.

 _Listen, everyone,_ he sent, tuning carefully into the minds of each of his allies. _When I give the signal, I need all of you to lie flat on the floor. Try to get behind me if you can. I'm going to try to miss you, but my aim is imprecise and I need all the help I can get._

He waited until he was sure he'd gotten the sense of assent from all of his teammates. They began drawing closer to him, preparing to get behind him when the time came. He gave them a few seconds more, and then...

It wasn't anything showy. Saiou simply stepped forwards, giving his friends a little more room to take cover. He held out his hand, and the attackers drew back a fraction, waiting for him to do something explosive. It was a very short pause, but it was enough. Saiou gathered a handful of power and let it burst in a flash of violet light. The enemy jumped backwards, startled, and his allies dove to the floor. There was a thud as Kenzan went from dinosaur to human boy in mid-jump.

Saiou decided that was all the time he was going to get. With a sense of relief, he let down his defenses and allowed all the power he had been damming up inside of himself to come blasting forth. He forced it ruthlessly into the minds of the men in front of him, without a thought to what damage he might do them along the way. He was vaguely aware of black-coated men dropping to their knees, clutching at their heads or futilely covering their eyes. Behind him, Saiou could hear his comrades gasping and whimpering. He hoped he wasn't damaging them too much. Even if he was, there was nothing he could do about it now. The power was no longer under his control, and all he could do was wait for it to run out.

It felt like forever, but at last, Saiou felt the avalanche begin to subside. He slumped slowly to the floor, his energy spent. People began moving around him, but he was too far gone to care who was doing what.

"Saiou?" said a voice above his head. "Saiou, are you okay?"

A few surviving neurons in Saiou's brain suggested that the voice belonged to Kenzan. He made a small noise.

"I think he's pretty out of it," the voice reported.

Another voice, one that probably belonged to O'Brien, said, "The attackers are down, but I suspect more will be coming to replace them soon. We had better move."

Something poked Saiou's shoulder a few times. It felt like the toe of one of Kenzan's heavy boots. "Hey... hey, pal, can you get up? You're at least not dead, right?"

Saiou made another groan. It was the best he could do.

"Well, he's still alive, but I think that's about all," said Kenzan. "Guess you're going for a ride, huh, buddy?"

Saiou didn't respond, but that didn't seem to bother Kenzan. The world shivered in the way it did when a normal-sized human being became a truck-sized lizard without passing through any intermediary stages. Then Saiou felt himself being lifted gently by the back of his coat. Someone reached up and patted one of his dangling hands.

"Don't worry," said Rei's voice. "Kenzan won't hurt you. Just relax, and we'll take care of it from here."

 _I hope you can,_ Saiou thought, and let exhaustion drag him into darkness.

* * *

Juudai was roused from a daze by the sound of someone approaching him. He had been very comfortable there, sitting in the warm sunshine with one of Yubel's wings curled around him, and the after-effects of fear and adrenaline had been making him tired. He had very nearly gone to sleep, but now the sound of footsteps made him remember where he was and why he was there.

 _The others must be looking for me,_ he realized. He straightened up and waved, even though there was no one there to see him yet.

"Hey, guys, I'm up here!" he called.

The footsteps slowed. It dawned on Juudai a bit belatedly that he had only been hearing one set of feet, and that his friends would doubtlessly be traveling in a group. By the time the new arrival emerged, Juudai was on his feet and tensed for a confrontation. Yubel, hovering behind him, was growling softly.

DD stepped into the light. He looked around cautiously, his gaze skating over Juudai before landing squarely on Yubel.

"So this is where you ended up," he said. "Well, don't let me stop you. You're free to go. That's what you wanted, right?"

"I want to stay with Juudai," said Yubel defiantly.

Juudai looked from DD to Yubel and back again.

"Is this the guy who did this to you, Yubel?" he asked.

Yubel nodded. "All of this is his fault."

DD watched this exchange with an expression of tired amusement.

"Juudai," he repeated. "I remember that name. You're the one Edo was telling me about - the boy with no powers. Are you planning on fighting me? I don't make exceptions for Clause 214. Why don't you tell your monster to back off and let me leave?"

"Yubel isn't a monster," said Juudai. "But I'm pretty sure whoever did this to him is. So yeah, I'm challenging you. Come at me, if you think you can take me."

He saw the expressions flit across DD's face - confusion, annoyance, and then a sort of smug resignation.

"Well, I was going to leave you alone," he said, "but if you insist..."

He fired a few energy bolts at Juudai, but Yubel was faster. He curled a wing in front of Juudai, protecting him. Juudai raised a hand and pushed the wing gently aside.

"Don't worry," he said, not taking his eyes off DD. "I can handle this." More loudly, he said, "Come on already! What are you attacking me from way over there for, huh? Are you afraid to fight me hand to hand? Do you think I've got some sort of trick up my sleeve? That'd be pretty embarrassing, wouldn't it, if the kid with no powers was smart enough to find some way to take you down when all the real heroes had failed."

DD narrowed his eyes. "I see what you're doing. You're trying to lure me over there to give that monster an easier chance at reaching me."

"Yubel isn't a monster," Juudai repeated. "But if it makes you feel better, then hold still and I'll come over there where you are."

"Why are you so determined to pick a fight with me?" DD asked, still suspicious.

"Maybe I'm trying to slow you down until my friends can get here to deal with you," said Juudai. He grinned. "Maybe I just want to see if I can take you."

"You can't," said DD. "Edo couldn't. Neither could his friend Ryou. The two of them working together didn't defeat me - what chance do you think you have?"

"All I want," said Juudai, starting across the rooftop, "is to get one good punch in. I want some paypack for what you've done to my friends. Give me that, and then you can go wherever you want."

"Fine," said DD. "Then make it quick. I'm in a bit of a rush, and I don't need you telling anyone where I went."

Juudai's footsteps crunched softly on the grit that covered the roof. DD watched him calmly, complacent now that he thought he knew what Juudai was up to. Perhaps he was thinking that once Juudai came within hitting range, he would let Juudai get his one punch in before throwing him off the roof or blasting his head off. Juudai hoped that he was the one who was right and DD was the one who was wrong, because otherwise this was likely to become painful.

"Here goes nothing," he said, and drew back his fist.

He threw the punch. It would have been nice if it had struck DD full in the face. It would have felt good to get just that little bit of revenge for everything DD had done to Yubel, to Fubuki, to Ryou and Edo and everyone else he had hurt. Instead, DD's hand came up impossibly fast, and Juudai's fist slapped harmlessly into it.

Almost harmlessly. Juudai had enough time to see DD's eyes go wide, and then everything slid into darkness.

In the darkness, Juudai could see what DD had been doing to himself all these years. The original tracks of his power were still there, faded and cracked but still visible to Juudai's enhanced sight. Over those, the traces of the myriad drugs and experiments he'd tried on himself overlaid everything like black mold. It made Juudai feel sick just to look at it. DD's body would have borne up a while longer under the onslaught of that decay, but not forever. In a few more years, he would start showing signs of breakdown. Juudai wasn't sure what that would be, exactly - perhaps he would start turning into something like Yubel had, or start leaking power like Fujiwara and Saiou, or perhaps he'd just start losing his powers entirely. Well, that wasn't going to happen now. Juudai gritted his teeth and applied himself, first to sweeping away all the filth, then to finding all the places DD's natural power sprang from and slamming them closed. They gave way without much resistance, as though they were exhausted from the effort of bearing up under all DD's strange enhancements, and were relieved to finally shut down for good. Once Juudai had done whatever the equivalent was of putting heavy bars across those doors and nailing them shut, he drew out of his trance. Judging by the expression of dawning confusion on DD's face, the trance had lasted only a second or two.

DD jerked his hand away.

"What the hell was that?" he demanded, his face going pale.

"I shut you down," said Juudai. "All your powers are gone now."

"Impossible," DD snapped. "Nobody has that kind of power."

"Well, I do," said Juudai. "And if you don't believe me, just try it."

"I'll show you that you're talking nonsense," said DD. He held up his hand and flourished it. Bolts of energy failed to appear. He stared down at his hands with a blank expression. He made an awkward little jumping movement, and it looked so odd that it took Juudai a moment to realize the man was trying to fly. He stifled an inappropriate urge to laugh.

DD glared at him. "This is some sort of trick. Every scrap of information I have on you says you have no powers."

"This is kind of a new development," Juudai said. "But your powers are going to be gone no matter what you think. I sealed them off. They're not coming back."

"You don't know that," said DD. His fingers twitched, as though he was already reaching for a syringe of something.

"I'm pretty sure I'm right about this," said Juudai. "And I wouldn't try fixing it with that weird medicine of yours, either. I don't think it will work, and it will probably make you sick if you try. It might even kill you. It was killing you anyway, you know. I probably just saved your life, doing that." He sighed. He was tired, he was sore, and this was not how he had imagined the final showdown with a supervillain should go. "Look, maybe you should just go and turn yourself in. It'll be easier than some of the other ways this could go."

"Don't tell me what to do!" DD snarled, and fled down the stairs again.

"Should I go after him?" asked Yubel. He sounded eager for a chance to try.

"Not now," said Juudai. "He can't hurt anyone anymore, and I need to check on my friends." He turned to face his companion. "Want to come?"

"They'll attack me," said Yubel nervously.

"I won't let them," said Juudai, thinking, _Every attack I've seen anyone throw at you just bounces off anyway._ But he knew he wouldn't let anyone even try to hurt Yubel, even if it meant dampening his friends' powers temporarily. "But I'd really like to know what they're doing right now, and we need to tell everybody what happened to DD."

Yubel nodded, looking a bit more cheerful at that thought. "He really can't hurt anyone anymore?"

"Not like he did before, no," said Juudai. "Don't worry about that. I fixed him good."

Yubel moved to stand behind Juudai and put his arms around him.

"I knew you would come for me," he said. "I always knew it."

"I'm just sorry I didn't get here sooner," said Juudai.

"It doesn't matter now," said Yubel. "You're here now."

Juudai smiled, feeling some of his exhaustion and disappointment ease. Hearing Yubel say that made him feel, for the first time, that he really was a hero.


	21. Lesson Learned

There was a lot of commotion, but DD ignored it all. Everyone was doing what they were supposed to be doing, and were therefore of no importance to him. The important thing was that he needed his powers back. There was nothing else he could do until he had that problem solved, so all he had to do was solve it.

 _There's no way that kid can be telling the truth. No one can just take away someone's powers with a touch like that. He's got to be some kind of healer - all he did was counteract the effects of the drugs. That's the only possible explanation..._

Images flickered across his internal movie screen. He saw himself powerless, forced to give up his hero career, and all the power and prestige that came with it. A high-profile hero earned money from endorsements and government sponsorships. All that would be gone if he lost his powers - he'd be destitute in a matter of months. Without that money and without his powers to keep his men in line, his research empire would crumble, and so would all his dreams for the future. He'd be left with no family, no money, no job, and no prospects. It would be the end of the world for him... but that couldn't happen. Nothing so momentous could happen in an instant's touch like that.

He took the elevator down to the medical ward. The drug cabinets there would be locked, but that was not a problem - he had the keys to unlock anything in the building. The medical ward was empty now. There were no patients at the moment, and the all-hands signal meant that everyone, even the medical staff, would be out searching for the invading heroes. There was no one to see as he unlocked a cabinet, reached for a syringe, and filled it from a bottle.

 _This will fix everything,_ he told himself, as he rolled back his sleeves. His arm bore the marks of several other recent injections. He had prepared heavily for this mission. It could not possibly fall apart like this. He swabbed an undamaged patch of skin with antiseptic and pressed the needle into a vein.

For a moment, he felt nothing, but that wasn't unusual. It took a few seconds for the serum to take effect. He simply waited, breathing deeply while he waited for the familiar comforting rush of renewed strength.

It was hard to pinpoint the moment when he realized that something was wrong. It began with a sense of lightheadedness, and a faint ringing in his ears. His heartbeat began to feel strange, rapid and fluttering in a way his dash down the stairs couldn't account for. As the ringing in his ears grew to a roar like the tide, he became aware of a creeping sense of nausea that grew steadily with every second. Strange lights began dancing in front of his eyes. With a groan, he sank to his knees and let his forehead rest against the cool tile of the wall as he waited for the sensation to pass.

 _No! It can't happen like this. It has to work. It_ has _to work... Maybe I just need more..._

With a tremendous effort, he hauled himself to his feet and managed to seize a second bottle. He refilled the syringe with hands that was slippery with sweat. This was dangerous territory. These drugs were not safe at high doses; he knew that much from his experiments. There was a chance that a second dose would be permanently damaging, even fatal.

 _I need to push through whatever he did to me. There's no other option. I have to get everything back somehow. Otherwise..._

Once again, he rammed the plunger home. Then he sat back against the wall, enjoying its coolness and the way it supported his weakening body. Already he was starting to feel a little better. His heart rate seemed to be slowing, the frantic pounding fading to a weak fluttery tremor. The dancing lights in front of his eyes were fading, replaced by a slowly closing circle of darkness. Even as the darkness closed in on him completely, he knew he had made the right choice.

* * *

"Do you have any idea where you're going?"

"Down," said Ryou. The two of them were clattering down the staircase, trying to listen for the sounds of battle over the sound of the sirens.

"All right, fine, stupid question," said Edo. "Better question: do we know what we're going to do when we get where we're going?"

"What we've been doing this whole time," said Ryou. He felt reckless, almost cheerful. True, he hadn't managed to defeat DD, not properly, but he and Edo together had pushed him so close to the edge of defeat that he'd had to pull this sort of cowardly move just to get away. More importantly, Ryou had managed it without powers. He had fought one of the most powerful supers in the world and come out on top, and he had done it with nothing more than his wits, a few tools, and what physical strength he'd been able to muster. At the moment, he felt like anything was possible. Taking on DD's goon squad was going to be a piece of cake.

Edo made a noise of frustration. "And I thought Saiou was the king of cryptic remarks."

"You were the one who wanted me to make friends with him," Ryou replied.

Edo gave a bark of laughter. They continued to run.

They stopped running at about the point where a wall buckled in front of them, and then the leg of a tyrannosaurus protruded through it.

"Sorry!" said a familiar voice, and then, "Why am I apologizing? I'm supposed to be stomping you people!"

"We're not from G.R.A.S.P.!" said Edo hastily. "It's us, Edo and Ryou!"

The leg withdrew, to be replaced by a scaly snout and a huge pair of nostrils. They sniffed a few times.

"Oh, hey, it is you!" said Kenzan. "Good, then you can take care of him."

The snout withdrew, and reappeared a second later carrying a limp body gently in its jaws. Edo's eyes widened.

"Saiou!"

He dashed forward and began trying to lift Saiou down from the dinosaur's teeth. It was interesting to watch, given how much taller Saiou was than Edo. Edo probably couldn't have done it if he hadn't been given super strength.

 _I really need to find out how he managed that,_ Ryou mused. Now was obviously not the time.

Edo lowered his friend gently to the ground, so that he was half-sitting and half-lying on the stairs.

"Come on, wake up," he said.

Saiou stirred and groaned softly.

Rei squirmed through the hole and came out to join them.

"He blasted the bad guys," she explained, "and then he passed out like this."

"Burned himself out again," Edo muttered. "Well, he'll be okay in a while. He just needs to sleep it off." He looked up at Rei. "How are the others?"

There was a _whoosh_ beyond the hole in the wall, followed by a _thud_. Plaster trickled down from the broken edges of the wall.

"We've been better," she said.

"Right," said Edo. He stood, rolling up his sleeves. "What do you say, Ryou? Want to show these guys what we did to their boss?"

"No," said Ryou.

Edo looked at him curiously. "No? What, are you planning on staying here and nursing Saiou?"

"No," said Ryou, stepping towards the hole. "I just think we can do it better this time."

Edo grinned. "That's more like it. Come on, let's show these guys they picked the wrong crew to mess with."

* * *

Juudai was feeling lost. That shouldn't have been possible, since all he had done was run up the stairs, so running down again should have taken him back where he started. Unfortunately, he could no longer remember what floor he had started on, and he thought his friends might have moved on without him. He was no longer sure where to even start looking.

He was still trying to formulate a plan of action when something rose up through the steps in front of him. Juudai jumped backwards with a yelp, and would have fallen if Yubel hadn't caught him and set him upright again. By the time Juudai had collected himself, he realized that there was something decidedly familiar about the rainbow-hued shape in front of him.

"There you are!" said Johan - or rather, the shade of Johan. "Everybody's been looking for... holy crap, what is that?"

"His name is Yubel and he's my friend," said Juudai quickly. "Yubel, this is, um... wait, can you even see him?"

"I can half see him," said Yubel, staring very hard at Johan. "But he's transparent. Is he supposed to be that way?"

"Most people can't see him at all when he's doing this," said Juudai.

"Oh," said Yubel. "I noticed I could see a lot better once I could open my third eye."

Johan studied Yubel with interest.

"You know," he said, "some people are just being metaphorical when they say things like that. Listen, though - the whole gang is wondering where you went. Ever since that alarm went off, everything has been going crazy. You need to get down there and help!"

"On my way," said Juudai. "Do you know where they are?"

"I'll lead you to your team," said Johan. He started down the stairs in a blur of rainbow light.

Juudai glanced back at Yubel. "You coming with me? You don't have to, you know. I'll understand if you don't want to fight."

Yubel flexed his claws. "I don't like any of these people. I'm going with you."

"Good enough for me," said Juudai. "Lead the way."

They hurried back down the stairs - Johan trailing rainbows, Yubel sailing on silent wings, Juudai forced to clamber along on his own two feet.

 _Guess there's really no end to this hero thing._ Still, at least it was more interesting than lessons.

Johan darted up ahead and returned an instant later.

"There's a big crowd up there," he said. "I can't help at all, except by watching your backs. Think you can manage with just the two of you?"

Juudai looked at Yubel. The expression on his friend's face suggested that it would take a lot more than just a few goons to stop _him_.

"I think we'll be fine," said Juudai.

As promised, three more floors down, Juudai came up against a wall of angry men in dark jackets, all of them waiting to take their turn fighting with whoever was in front of the crowd. They seemed to have become bottlenecked around the door to one of the rooms, beyond which Juudai could hear the sounds of battle. There seemed to be no way for him to get inside to help. Juudai considered for a moment before stepping up to the nearest man and tapping him on the shoulder. The man turned to glare at him.

"What do you think you're doing, kid?" he demanded. "You one of those hero types?"

Juudai smiled up at him and pointed behind himself. "Hey, look what I found! He followed me home. Can I keep him?"

The man followed his pointing finger, his gaze traveling further up the hallway and landing squarely on Yubel. Yubel smiled, showing teeth.

"Hello," he said. "Remember me?"

The man did apparently remember Yubel. He let out a shriek and began trying to escape. Unfortunately for him, there were only two directions he could go: backwards towards Yubel, or forward through the crowd of men in front of him. He chose the safer option, attempting to shoulder his way past his comrades. This caused the ones nearest to him to turn around and see what the problem was, at which point they saw Yubel grinning at them. Juudai watched the domino effect with interest. He wondered what had been happening to Yubel that made everyone so afraid of him.

 _At least he's on our side, now._

The crowd was beginning to break up. A few of them managed to push their way to side corridors or further down the stairs to flee - they might have been willing to fight a handful of trainee supers, but dealing with their own monster was clearly not on their to-do list. A few others stood their ground, drawing their weapons or radioing for backup. Others were pressing forward, trying to break through the wall of defending heroes. The heroes, however, seemed to have realized something was undermining their foe's morale, and they had rallied accordingly. Juudai caught a glimpse of Shou hovering near the ceiling, firing off blasts of energy while Asuka protected him with her shields. Jim had ducked into a corner, partially concealing himself with a bookshelf, calling out directions and warnings to his friends while Karen stood guard over him and snapped at whoever came near. Fubuki was making himself useful, too. He didn't seem to be back at full strength, yet, but he was contributing anyway by making sudden patches of half-melted ice appear beneath the boots of oncoming attackers. Juudai watched as one man drew a gun, and then screamed as it exploded in his hand, its muzzle blocked by hard-packed snow. Part of his hand exploded, too, and Juudai winced. It wasn't that he wanted to see his friends get hurt, but...

 _This is stupid. They're fighting for a guy who can't lead them anymore. I stopped him already..._

Hayato had taken refuge behind Manjoume, who was doing a good job of protecting the both of them. Anyone using an electrical weapon couldn't get anywhere near Manjoume without it shorting a circuit, and Hayato was fending off any other dangers with what seemed to be shields with wings. They were only made of paper, but they did a surprisingly good job of deflecting bullets and other projectiles, at least until they ran out of power and crumpled to the floor. Hayato was having to scramble to keep drawing new defenses, and Juudai found himself wondering how much paper he had left.

All this went through his mind in the space of a second. Then two of the guards decided that tackling one boy just standing there looked a lot safer than attacking either a terrifying dragon-beast or a lot of heroes actively engaged in fighting. One of them took a swing at him with a shock baton, and Juudai ducked. Yubel flung himself at the man who had attacked him and wrestled him to the floor, but the second man stepped forward and aimed a kick at Juudai's ribs. Juudai managed to roll out of the way - not quite fast enough to avoid being struck, but fast enough that he didn't end up with a few broken ribs. His attacker snarled and stepped forward to try again.

Someone stepped through the wall, grabbed a chair, and stuck the man smartly over the head with it. He went down with an expression of surprise on his face. Juudai looked from the prone man to his rescuer, and saw Misawa looking down at his handiwork with an expression of distaste.

"This is really not my line of work," he muttered.

"Did you kill him?" Juudai asked. He nudged the fallen man with a toe.

"How should I know?" Misawa replied. "I'm a field technician. I'm not combat trained."

"Well, if he wakes up, we can ask him," said Juudai. He found he didn't have much sympathy for the fallen man. His own bruised ribs aside, Juudai wasn't about to forgive someone who had been complicit in torturing Yubel and hurting Fubuki and everything else that G.R.A.S.P. had done. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"Helping you," said Misawa. One of the men tried to lunge at him. Misawa's outline flickered as the man passed straight through him and crashed into the wall. "It seemed to me as though you could use some backup, and I _am_ your backup. As soon as I realized things were getting out of hand, I sent a signal to the police and the local hero alert system, and then I came to see what I could do to help."

"Great," said Juudai. "Can you get into the P.A. system?" He saw Misawa's expression and added, "Stupid question, of course you can. Get on it, then, and tell these guys that their boss has been taken down already and there's nothing left to fight for."

Misawa's eyebrows rose. "Is that true?"

"I'm pretty sure it is," said Juudai. "Also the monster they made to fight with us is on our side, and I'm pretty sure he's not happy."

He indicated Yubel, who was fighting with six men at once and apparently enjoying himself immensely. Misawa turned to watch him. A bullet zinged through the space his head was occupying without encountering any resistance.

"I think your message may be somewhat unnecessary," said Misawa, "but I'll do what I can."

He stepped through a wall and vanished. Juudai watched him go. Then he turned back to the fray.

"Oh, well," he said, grabbing the chair Misawa had abandoned, "better help out for now."

* * *

Edo released a series of energy beams that left a row of charred starbursts across the wall, and watched in satisfaction as opponents dove for the floor.

 _He really didn't train these people very well._

Of course he hadn't. These were grunts, meant to do the menial work and nothing more. DD had believed that when it came to fighting actual powered heroes, he would be there to manage that part. He had expected sheer numbers and his own power and brains to be enough. He hadn't counted on his own protégé and someone like Ryou to come along and confront him. On the whole, Edo was enjoying proving him wrong.

 _Even if they weren't working for DD, they deserve this for hurting Saiou._

That was one good thought he could carry out of all this. His father was gone, and not even taking down his killer would bring him back. DD had betrayed them both, but soon his empire would be broken and he would never be able to hurt anyone else ever again. All the family Edo had was gone, but he wasn't alone. Ryou and Saiou had been here for him, even at risk to their own life. Even when Ryou had lost all his powers, and must have known his chances of success were nearly nonexistant, he'd come to help Edo face down one of the most dangerous people in the world. There were people in the world Edo could trust, truly trust, and that made them as good a family as he was ever going to find.

That didn't make what had happened today stop hurting, but it took away a little of the sting.

At least the battle was finally starting to go their way. Saiou's sacrifice had not been in vain; he seemed to have taken out at least twenty of DD's men with his psychic blast. Now the numbers were more evenly balanced - not equal, but close enough that the addition of Edo and Ryou to the mix was allowing the heroes to hold their own. Rei had managed to sweet-talk one of the men into giving her his shock baton, and she was now gleefully whacking anything that came near her. As Edo watched, Martin grabbed one of the men she had stunned, jerked him down by his collar, and shouted something in his ear, making him stagger backwards clutching his skull. O'Brien fired off a round of fireballs, causing a row of men to dive for the floor, and Kenzan snatched one up in his teeth and threw him at the wall.

 _We might actually win this,_ Edo thought.

"Watch your back!" came Ryou's voice behind him.

Edo ducked and whirled just as something zinged over his head. Edo fired off an energy blast and knocked the gun out of his attacker's hand.

"Don't shoot that indoors," he scolded, as his attacker shook his burnt fingers. "You're going to hit one of your own men. Honestly, didn't they teach you people anything?"

"It's not like there's a shortage of them," Ryou grumped, as he flicked Edo's whip at an approaching goon. Ryou was standing guard over the hole in the wall, preventing anyone from getting too near the still-unconscious Saiou. "It seems like every time we clear some of them out, more show up."

"We have to run out eventually," said Edo. He blasted another black-coated man off his feet, then turned and kicked another in the groin.

"The trouble is," said Ryou, "there aren't but so many of us either."

He whipped his lash around a man's arm and managed to jerk him off his feet. Before Ryou could untangle his weapon, another man rushed at him with one of the electrical prods. Reflexively, Ryou raised a hand to knock him away with an energy bolt, forgetting too late that he couldn't do that at the moment.

But it ended up not mattering, because the man suddenly stopped moving forwards and instead tilted backwards as the floor beneath him seemed to give way. His eyes widened in shock as he fell down, passed through the floor without meeting any resistance, and vanished, leaving only a shadow behind. Ryou's face split into a relieved smile.

"Fujiwara! Nice of you to join us."

The shadow rose up from the floor and made a show of dusting himself off.

"Well, the rest of our friends seem to have everything under control where they are, thanks to that dragon," he said, "so I thought I'd come check on you - and in the nick of time, it looks like."

"The more the merrier," said Edo. "So where did that guy go?"

"I don't know," Fujiwara admitted. "The basement, I think. I wasn't really aiming for anywhere in particular."

"It probably doesn't matter," said Ryou. "Send a few more away, if you want."

Satisfied that all was well, Edo turned his attention back to the rest of his opponents. They were beginning to look like they were reconsidering the wisdom of being here. A fireball or a dinosaur might be dangerous, but they were easy to understand. Getting gobbled up by a shadow triggered fear on a more visceral level.

 _Yes, well, they had better be scared. With this team, there's no way we can lose._

Even as he was thinking that, a crackling sound came from overhead. Everyone instinctively paused, the better to hear the voice coming over the P.A. system.

"Attention, all," said a clear, no-nonsense voice. "This is Misawa Daichi, your friendly neighborhood superhero. I'd like to inform you all that DD has been defeated. This organization is now officially dissolved. Furthermore, the authorities have been alerted and are on their way. I repeat, the authorities are on their way. I advise all members of G.R.A.S.P. to put down their weapons and surrender..."

The goon in front of Edo scowled. "That can't be true. This is a trick! You just got him to say that to make us think we'd lost!"

Ryou and Fujiwara drew close behind Edo, Fujiwara gathering a handful of shadows in one hand, Ryou holding his whip. Edo smiled.

"You wanna bet on that?" he said.

The goons put down their weapons.

* * *

Juudai sat on the curb and looked up with mild interest at the building in front of him. Parts of it still had flames roiling out of it. When the authorities had arrived to collect the criminals, they hadn't messed around. Even as Juudai watched, a small chunk of cracked masonry gave up its hold on the rest of the building and went plummeting to the pavement.

 _I hope we're not going to have to pay for this,_ he mused. _Otherwise we're all going to have to graduate and get sponsorships really fast._

At the moment, though, he couldn't get too worked up about it. He had been sitting and watching the building fall apart for nearly half an hour now, and so far nothing bad had happened to him. He and all his friends had made it safely out of the building. Now the police and a few local heroes were rounding up stragglers, while Johan helped the medics patch up anyone who was injured. Traffic along the streets surrounding the building had been blocked off, so apart from Juudai's friends, the police, the medics, and the fleeing G.R.A.S.P. agents, and the noise of the building going to pieces, everything seemed pretty quiet. It said something that Juudai found this situation soothing.

It had been a long day. After all the excitement and all the strain he'd put on his powers, Juudai was ready for a long nap. He had, in fact, nearly dozed off when he became aware that a shadow had fallen over him. He looked up to see that Saiou had drifted over to stand next to him. He looked as tired as Juudai felt.

"Do you care for company?" he asked.

Juudai silently patted the concrete next to him. Saiou sat down with all the poise of a man taking his place in someone's parlor. Juudai had to respect the fact that the man could move so gracefully even when he was plainly exhausted.

"Where has your dragon friend gone?" Saiou asked.

"Dragon?" Juudai repeated. "Oh, you mean Yubel? I guess he does look kinda like a dragon. The healers are checking him over now, trying to get a handle on what DD did to him. I don't think they've been feeding him as much as they should have." The thought made him outraged all over again. He was the sort of person who placed a high priority on good food.

"They found him, you know," said Saiou. "DD, I mean. He was in one of the medical wards."

Something about the flat tone of Saiou's voice gave Juudai pause.

"Was he... okay?" he asked.

Saiou shook his head. "It would appear that he injected himself with an overdose of some substance. The medics haven't been able to identify it yet, but he was holding a syringe and had fresh marks on his arms."

"So he's dead, after all," said Juudai. He sighed, staring down at the pavement at his feet. "I didn't want to kill him. I really tried not to."

"You didn't kill him," said Saiou. "He chose his own way out."

"I gave him the idea, though," said Juudai gloomily. "I was the one who told him that taking his weird drugs would probably make him sick, and he went and did it anyway. And they wouldn't have hurt him so much if I hadn't done what I did, and if I hadn't done it, he wouldn't have needed to."

Saiou took this rather jumbled protest calmly.

"He could have chosen otherwise," said Saiou. "He could have surrendered, gone to jail, and perhaps in time, he could have turned his mental abilities to better purposes. He could have, but wouldn't have. He never would have chosen to live without his powers - not just the physical superpowers, but the power he had over other people. Once he lost that, he would not have wanted to go on. He'd have found some other way to end it all, no matter what you did."

"I still don't like it," said Juudai. "I always thought winning would be fun. I never wanted people to die."

"The life of a hero, I'm afraid," said Saiou.

"I'm not sure I really want to do this anymore," said Juudai. "The more I do this, the harder it seems to get. I thought things would be easier once I knew what my power is, but it's not."

"There is only one easy way to have power," Saiou observed.

"That's what scares me," said Juudai. "I'm afraid of becoming like DD. I don't think he was a bad guy, to begin with. He thought he was going to do something good to help people like Edo and Shou who feel like they aren't good enough. And he really was a hero - he saved a lot of people's lives and put a lot of bad guys away. I think in the end, he still felt like he was doing the right thing. I don't want to end up like he was, convincing myself that everything I do must be right just because I feel like it is. It was bad enough with someone like him. If it happened to someone with power like mine..."

"You could change it," said Saiou.

Juudai looked up again. "Huh?"

"Change your power. If you have power over powers, then that should include your own," said Saiou calmly. "I have a sense that this is so. You could change your powers to limit yourself to something that will demand less of you - healing powers, perhaps, if the idea of taking lives distresses you, or something small and amusing that no one will ever ask you to use on the battlefield. Take them away from yourself entirely, if you like. You have the freedom to choose what you would like to be for the rest of your life."

"I don't know what I want," said Juudai. "That's the problem. If I give up, I'll feel bad for being able to help people and not doing it. If I keep doing what I'm doing, I'll have to worry all the time about making the wrong choices."

"Ah," said Saiou. "Well, I wouldn't let it trouble you too much."

Juudai glared at him. "That's it? That's your advice?"

"It's all you need," said Saiou. "Consider this: how much time do you think DD spent worrying about whether what he was doing was the right thing?"

Juudai turned that thought over in his head for a moment.

"Huh," he said at last.

"Food for thought," Saiou agreed. "And now, I believe we had a bargain...?"

"What?" said Juudai, and then, "Oh, sure! Just hold still a second."

He reached for Saiou's hands and closed his eyes. After the awfulness he had found inside DD, the cracks in Saiou's soul seemed clean and simple by comparison. He wasn't so badly broken, really, just a little strained and frayed around the edges. Juudai had a sense that he had come into his power too soon, before he had been ready to control it, and he had never quite bounced back. Now Juudai smoothed the rough edges away, sealed up the cracks, reinforced a few things so they wouldn't break again. It seemed to take no time at all.

When he pulled back, though, he could see that his work had made a difference. Saiou's pallid skin had a healthier tint to it, and the strain around his eyes had smoothed away.

"Amazing," he murmured. "I had no idea it had gotten so bad..."

"All better now?" Juudai asked.

"Vastly improved, thank you," said Saiou. "I will remember your kindness, Yuuki Juudai. If you ever need my help, you have only to ask."

He stood, made a polite bow, and walked away. Juudai watched him weave his way through the crowd to go chat with Edo. Juudai leaned back, hands braced behind him on the sidewalk, so he could stare up at the sky.

 _I get to choose, huh?_ he thought. He looked up at the still-smouldering building, and then down at the commotion going on in the street. Shou and Ryou were having a lively discussion together, while Edo was congratulating Saiou on his improved health. Juudai smiled as he saw Yubel hurrying back to him.

"Hey," he said. "What did the docs say?"

"They say I'm all right," said Yubel. "Someone called the school and the principal says it's all right for me to come back with you. I don't even have to take an entrance exam."

Juudai smiled. "That's great. And hey, I bet Professor Daitokuji and I can help you get back to something more like your own shape, if you want."

Yubel thought about that.

"I'd like to be more human again," he mused, "but I kind of like the wings, too."

"We'll work on that," said Juudai.

His spirits were lifting. This, he decided, was no time to worry about making huge important decisions. Now was the time to think about going home to the island with his friends, having a good meal, and taking a long nap. Then he could talk to Professor Daitokuji and Miss Ayukawa and the rest of the healers and work on helping Yubel get back to something more comfortable for him. There was a lot to do.

 _I guess my friends need me,_ he decided. And maybe that was the secret: letting other people decide for themselves what they needed of him, instead of trying to decide their lives by himself. It was worth thinking about, anyway.

"Hey, Juudai!" That was Fubuki, still a bit weak but with good humor fully restored. "Are you going to sit and daydream all day? We're ready to go!"

"Coming!" he called back. He scrambled to his feet with Yubel's help and started back towards the harbor.

 _Lots of time to decide later,_ he decided. _Right now, I'm going home._

* * *

"All right, all right, one thing at a time," said Principal Samejima, holding up his hands defensively. His office was rather crowded at the moment, more so than usual, and the air positively crackled from having so many strong powers crammed into one small room.

"I can't listen to you all talking at once," he said. "Everyone sit down and let's go over this one person at a time."

Everyone sat down. Suddenly the room looked a lot less crowded, now that everyone was sitting still and not shouting at him. His eyes played over the assembled students: Ryou, looking almost painfully eager, an unusual expression on such a normally self-contained young man. Edo, looking almost as eager and excited as his friend and rival. A little further back, Saiou and that other boy - what was his name? Ah, right, Fujiwara Yusuke - continued chatting quietly together. And all the way in the far corner sat Juudai, still and watchful.

 _Interesting,_ Samejima thought. He made it a point to know all his students - their names and faces, their particular knacks, their personalities. With Juudai, had formed an impression of a boy who was long on enthusiasm but perhaps a bit short on common sense, someone with good leadership potential in his ability to get other people to listen to him, but not so good it came to thinking about long-term consequences. This still silent boy with the watchful eyes was something new and mildly unsettling.

"All right," said Samejima at last. "You first."

He pointed at Fujiwara, who jumped a little as if he hadn't expected anyone to realize he was there.

"It's nothing," he murmured. "It's only that I was hoping to re-enroll in classes. I don't think my student records were ever purged from the archives, but my status might be a little... obscure, at the moment. I'd like it all cleared up, please."

Samejima studied him for a moment, then turned his attention to his computer.

"Hm, yes, I see what you mean," he said. "You've been out of commission for a while, haven't you? Remind me what that was all about, again?"

"A little problem with my powers misfiring," said Fujiwara. "It's all sorted out now, though. The medical staff will confirm it."

"Well, that's all right, then," said Samejima. "I see no problem in getting you re-enrolled. You'll have to start over with beginning classes, though."

"That's all right," said Fujiwara. "I know I'm a bit rusty with... well, everything. Starting at the beginning will help."

"Good, good," said Samejima. "And you, Mr. Saiou? It's unusual to see you outside your rooms. What can I do for you?"

"I have come to inform you," he said, "that Professor Daitokuji has given me a thorough examination, and he has concluded that I am now fully in control of my abilities, and can therefore be safely allowed to attend classes with the rest of the students."

"Really?" said Samejima, interested. Up until now, Daitokuji and the rest had given him the impression that Saiou was basically a hopeless case, and would probably need to spend the rest of his life confined somewhere for the safety of himself and everyone around him.

Saiou's response was simply to hold up his hands, showing that he was not wearing the power dampners that he normally donned any time he felt the need to descend from his ivory tower. Samejima did a quick mental check of himself. He had known any number of psychics during his years as a professional hero, and known even more as a teacher. He had learned to recognize the signs of when a psychic was putting mental pressure on him. Just now, he felt nothing at all, or at least nothing that he wouldn't have expected to feel in a room full of strongly talented individuals.

"Very impressive," said Samejima. "How did that happen?"

Saiou seemed to consider a moment before responding, "It's a matter of an advanced new treatment. You should probably discuss it with Professor Daitokuji if you want all the details."

"I will be sure to do so," said Samejima, and made a note on his appointment book. If there was a sudden breakthrough in controlling rogue powers that was effective on this kind of scale, he was annoyed that no one had told him sooner. "In the meantime, if I can confirm these reports with the good professor, I see no reason why you shouldn't be allowed to begin attending classes."

"Thank you very much," said Saiou. He stood and made one of his formal bows. "May Fujiwara and I leave now? I would like very much to continue our conversation, and we don't want to disturb you."

Samejima made a gesture of assent, and the two of them strolled out together. Samejima heard Saiou saying, "Now, as I understand it, memory is more than simply a mental phenomenon, inasmuch as any bodily process is not ultimately controlled by the brain..." Then they were out of earshot. Samajima wondered vaguely where the rest of that conversation was going.

He turned his attention to the remaining students. His gaze strayed to Ryou, but Ryou saw the look he was getting and turned to look pointedly at Edo. Samejima had the impression that whatever Ryou wanted to talk about, he wanted to do it with as small an audience as possible. Samejima stifled a sigh. He was deeply curious about what his favorite student was thinking, especially after the trauma of his previous mission. After this last one, Samejima was half afraid that Ryou was going to ask to leave the school entirely.

"All right," he said aloud. "Mr. Phoenix, what is it that you wanted?"

"I need to show you something," said Edo.

"Well, go right ahead," said Samejima. "Unless it's something you don't want everyone else here to..."

He didn't finish, because Edo had stood up... and then continued to rise, drifting gently until he could have reached up to touch the ceiling. He held his hands in front of him and shot a bolt of energy at the nearest window. The window, which was made of specially reinforced energy-resistant material, wobbled a little. Point made, Edo floated serenely back down to his seat.

"I'd like to request having my course levels upgraded," he said. "I think at this point, I'm ready to tackle something a bit more advanced, don't you?"

"Er... yes," said Samejima. He was still looking at the window. It was still vibrating. "If you don't mind, could you tell me..."

"Let's just say I got a dose of the same thing that made Shou suddenly start manifesting powers," said Edo. "But having them isn't enough. I really need to learn how to use them." He made a face of chagrin. "They're a lot harder to manage than I thought they'd be."

"We will certainly see about that, then," said Samejima. "Talk to Professor Chronos and he'll arrange for you to be re-evaluated, and then we'll decide which courses will be best for you."

"Thank you," said Edo. He started to get up, then paused. "Do you think I could be in the same class as Ryou?"

"We'll see," said Samejima. He didn't want to make any promises he couldn't keep, and right now, he was still wondering seriously about Ryou's future.

Edo shrugged, accepting the answer. "All right, then. In that case, I'm going. I've got a lot of things to do today."

He strode out of the room. Samejima watched him go with concern, and made a mental note to talk to him again when there was a chance. Being orphaned was a continual risk in the superhero business. The school was equipped to deal with students who didn't have a home to go back to, and Edo had been earning his own sponsorships for years now. He would be fine, at least in terms of having a place to live and something to eat. As for the rest of it... well, he'd have to see about making sure that he was in the same classes as Ryou and Saiou. He ought to be close to his friends right now.

And on that note...

"Well, Ryou?" he said. "Are you ready to talk now?"

"I think so," said Ryou. "You've heard about how things went in DD's stronghold, haven't you?"

"Some of it," said Samejima. "I understand, though, that the medics say that your powers will return to full strength in a few days."

"That's right, sir," said Ryou. "I'm not worried about that right now. What I came to ask you about was my class schedules."

"Yes?" Samejima prompted, thinking, _He really is trying to withdraw from school..._

"I'd like to reorder my schedule a bit, if that's all right with you," said Ryou. He took a sheet of paper from beneath his jacket. He was still wearing the black coat he'd stolen from the G.R.A.S.P. facility, although he'd covered over the acronym with a patch of the school logo. "I sat down with Edo, and he helped me decide on a new schedule. I think this will help me a lot more than my old one."

Samejima accepted the paper and skimmed over it. His eyebrows rose.

"Medical training," he said. "Computers... emergency preparedness... armed combat? Ryou, these courses are not designed for someone with your power set."

"I know," said Ryou. "That's exactly why I want to take them. I was put in a situation where I couldn't use my normal skill set, so I had to improvise. It would have gone much more smoothly if I had ever taken the time to learn the things I'm capable of doing _without_ my powers. Who's to say I won't be in a situation where that will happen again? Who's to say I won't be in a situation someday when the things I'm best at doing won't be the best things to do?" He smiled a little. "They say when you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail. I'm asking to be given a better toolbox."

"I see," said Samejima. He gave Ryou a considering look. "Is this why you and Edo want to be trained together?"

"That's part of it, yes," Ryou agreed. "We both have things we can learn from each other."

"I see," Samejima agreed. "Then I think perhaps you're right. I will personally see to it that you get a new schedule arranged to your liking. And perhaps you would like to share some with your brother as well? I think there are some things that you could teach him as well."

Ryou seemed to consider this. Then he nodded.

"Yes," he said. "I think that would be a very good idea. In fact, I think he's already asked me about it."

"Very well, then, I'll sort that out for you," said Samejima.

"Thank you," said Ryou. He stood to leave.

"Mr. Marufuji," said Samejima, and Ryou stopped to look at him expectantly.

"Yes, sir?" he said.

Samejima smiled. "I think you're really on your way to becoming a true hero."

Ryou smiled back. "Thank you, sir."

And then Samejima and Juudai were alone in the room. Samejima was aware that somehow, even though there were fewer people there than there had been before, the tension in the room felt a lot higher.

"Do you mind coming a bit closer?" Samejima asked. He didn't say, "You're making me nervous, staring at me from over there," but the thought crossed his mind all the same.

Juudai obligingly moved to the chair nearest to the desk and sat facing Samejima earnestly. It didn't help much.

"Well, now," said Samejima, "what can I do for you?"

"Do you want to know what really happened today?" Juudai asked.

In Samejima's opinion, there was no way of telling "what really happened." The best you could do was get someone else's perspective on the subject. Still, he had the sense that getting Juudai's perspective on the day's events might be worth knowing.

"Please," said Samejima.

So Juudai began to talk, and Samejima listened. Juudai was not a very organized storyteller, and his narrative contained a lot of strange digressions, but you couldn't be principal of a school full of teenagers with superpowers for more than a few years without developing a high tolerance for strange things. Samejima concentrated on listening and paying attention until he was able to put the pieces together.

"Well," he said at last, sitting back in his chair. "That explains quite a lot of things."

"Yeah," said Juudai. He sounded gloomy. "It's not really what I signed up for, you know?"

"I know," said Samejima. "I think all heroes go through that feeling, at some point in their careers. You're getting it a bit early and a bit more dramatically than most, but..."

"Does it get better?" Juudai asked.

"In time," said Samejima. "We all learn our limitations. It never gets easy, but you do learn better ways to cope."

"I think I have a lot to learn," said Juudai.

Samejima smiled. "I suppose it's a good thing you're in a school, then, isn't it?"

Juudai thought about that for a while. Tentatively, he smiled back.

"Yeah," he said. "I guess it is."

* * *

And one thing more...

The dorm room was quiet and full of light. Sunshine poured through the window to cast a square of light on the worn carpet. Gradually, it inched its way across the floor and up the edge of the blanket, finally landing squarely on the face of a boy who was still curled up in bed. Juudai groaned and pulled his pillow over his head.

"Jus' five more minutes," he told the world.

His door burst open. Juudai tried to ignore the sound of people clambering into his room, but it was impossible.

"Come on, Juudai, are you still asleep?" Shou asked.

"It's Saturday," Juudai complained. "I'm allowed to sleep on Saturday."

"But Fubuki made it snow again!" Shou insisted. "And Asuka and Manjoume have already built a really good snow fort, and Saiou's using his psychic powers to make the snowballs fly, and we need you on our team!"

"Oh," said Juudai. He stretched without opening his eyes. "Well, maybe that's a good reason. All right, gimme a few minutes to get dressed. Go start building a wall or something."

"Okay!" Shou said, and scampered out of the room again.

Juudai yawned hugely and resettled himself under his blankets. He was cozy and warm where he was, and the thought of snow just made him that much happier to be beneath the blankets.

A leathery wing flopped across his face.

"Hey," said Yubel. "Don't go to sleep. You said you were going to play with us."

"I will, I will," Juudai mumbled.

The wingtip prodded him a few more times.

"You aren't awake," Yubel insisted.

"I am, honest."

Something grabbed his blankets and yanked him away, and then a powerful wing scooped him up and dumped him on the floor. Juudai sat up, laughing, and raised his head to see that Yubel was laughing down at him.

"All right, all right, I'm up already!" he said.

Yubel reached down a claw to help him up. Still grinning, Juudai went to dig through his closet for snow gear. Through his window, he could already see that the rest of his friends were busy with their snowball fight. Taniya, in tiger form, was racing around through the snow while Misawa lobbed snowballs from his perch on her back. Edo and Ryou, working together, were knocking snowballs out of the air with bolts of energy, making them explode in dazzling puffs of white. Even as he watched, Juudai saw Shou creep up behind Fubuki, tag him, and then run away laughing and trailing snow from his fingertips.

"I've never had a snowball fight before," said Yubel wistfully.

"Well, you're going to have one now," said Juudai, as he busily yanked on clothes. "And then later, we can come in and make hot chocolate and watch a movie or something. We'll invite some of the others too. It'll be fun!"

Yubel's eyes lit up. "You promise?"

"Promise," said Juudai. He finished strapping on his shoes and started for the door. "Now, come on! Everyone's waiting for us!"

Yubel swooped after him, and they both dashed out of the building into a snow-filled tropical wonderland.

"Look out, guys!" he shouted, as he slid down the front stair rail and landed in a heap of snow at the bottom. "Here I come!"

Someone - he didn't see who, lobbed a snowball at him, and he ducked. It struck one of Yubel's wings instead, and Yubel reached down to snatch up a handful of snow and clumsily pat it into a ball with his claws. Juudai scurried to help, laughing. Sure, the world was full of serious things and big decisions, but those could wait. Today, his friends were all safe and happy, and there was snow to play with.

For now, at least, being a hero was fun.


End file.
